Story
My name is Jack Craigie, I am now 16 but was diagnosed with Crohns disease in 2015 at the age of 12.
Before 2014, I swam competitively at a regional level, training 6/7 times a week and strength and conditioning around twice. Along with this, I would play football twice a week for my local team Manstow. However, around 7 months before I got diagnosed, I began to struggle with swimming even 100 metres, so I knew something was wrong.
From this time, more and more horrible symptoms began to arise, with agonising stomach pains, struggling to keep down food and horrible fatigue(leaving me unable to even pick up cutlery at some times) becoming a common occurrence to me. Around this time, we visited the local doctors to make sure everything was ok, but due to the fact that the disease wasn’t very well known, my symptoms were dismissed by numerous doctors, with phrases such as “it will get better when the weather changes,” and treatments such as an inhaler to help the lack of breath while swimming, but I knew there was something more than that.
Eventually, after lots of pressure, we got referred to a paediatrician at the local hospital in Derriford, where numerous further tests indicated a possibility of IBD, an issue none of the family had ever heard of, resulting in us being referred to the Bristol Children’s Hospital. However, because of the long waiting times to get an appointment, we averted to BUPA (a private medical policy).
After around 7 months of appointments, testing, screening and “photoshoots” as I like to call them, I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, a case of IBD affecting my entire digestive system (top to bottom) with horrible inflammation. From there, the many treatments began, passing from 6-week liquid feeds of disgusting drinks, to steroids causing bloating of the stomach and face until finally finding the effective treatment for me, infliximab infusions every 8 weeks along with azathioprine tablets taken daily. From there, my physical symptoms were finally under control but this also caused more problems
to arise. As a result of the Crohn's, my energy levels I once had were gone and so I could no longer take part in swimming and as I started to finally grow after an 18-month halt, agonising joint pains in both my knees and heels, my football also came to a halt until physiotherapy helped resolve these pains. Along with all the physical treatment, I also underwent months of mental therapy, one of the most difficult parts of the whole thing.
My Goal:
Now that my symptoms are under control, I want to make the most of what I am able to do, by raising money and awareness for the disease, so people’s diagnosis won’t take months and their symptoms will be under control faster.
In 2017, I took part in my first ever Walk It in Plymouth, walking 10km
through the joint pains. Once I was able to do more, I wanted to go even bigger and raise more money and awareness for the disease, so I decided to organise a 100-mile bike ride from one coast of Devon to the to the other over the hot May Bank Holiday Weekend last year.
How do I top that? Well, now that I'm 16 and have finished my GCSEs I can jump out of a plane, provided I have a responsible adult with me - but dad will have to do! We've asked for Friday 9 August near Honiton and will be jumping from around 15000 feet, reaching a terminal (?!) velocity of 120mph, apparently...
I was proud to receive the Young Fundraiser of the Year award last year but my hopes are that by raising money, I can help fund the critical research of IBD, to eventually find a cure and a cause, so children like me can be diagnosed and treated quickly so they don’t have to go through months of waiting and tests. As well as this, I hope that children like me with IBD will see this and realise that they can get better like I did and be able to take part in activities like this, to give them hope in a way!
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
Before 2014, I swam competitively at a regional level, training 6/7 times a week and strength and conditioning around twice. Along with this, I would play football twice a week for my local team Manstow. However, around 7 months before I got diagnosed, I began to struggle with swimming even 100 metres, so I knew something was wrong.
From this time, more and more horrible symptoms began to arise, with agonising stomach pains, struggling to keep down food and horrible fatigue(leaving me unable to even pick up cutlery at some times) becoming a common occurrence to me. Around this time, we visited the local doctors to make sure everything was ok, but due to the fact that the disease wasn’t very well known, my symptoms were dismissed by numerous doctors, with phrases such as “it will get better when the weather changes,” and treatments such as an inhaler to help the lack of breath while swimming, but I knew there was something more than that.
Eventually, after lots of pressure, we got referred to a paediatrician at the local hospital in Derriford, where numerous further tests indicated a possibility of IBD, an issue none of the family had ever heard of, resulting in us being referred to the Bristol Children’s Hospital. However, because of the long waiting times to get an appointment, we averted to BUPA (a private medical policy).
After around 7 months of appointments, testing, screening and “photoshoots” as I like to call them, I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, a case of IBD affecting my entire digestive system (top to bottom) with horrible inflammation. From there, the many treatments began, passing from 6-week liquid feeds of disgusting drinks, to steroids causing bloating of the stomach and face until finally finding the effective treatment for me, infliximab infusions every 8 weeks along with azathioprine tablets taken daily. From there, my physical symptoms were finally under control but this also caused more problems
to arise. As a result of the Crohn's, my energy levels I once had were gone and so I could no longer take part in swimming and as I started to finally grow after an 18-month halt, agonising joint pains in both my knees and heels, my football also came to a halt until physiotherapy helped resolve these pains. Along with all the physical treatment, I also underwent months of mental therapy, one of the most difficult parts of the whole thing.
My Goal:
Now that my symptoms are under control, I want to make the most of what I am able to do, by raising money and awareness for the disease, so people’s diagnosis won’t take months and their symptoms will be under control faster.
In 2017, I took part in my first ever Walk It in Plymouth, walking 10km
through the joint pains. Once I was able to do more, I wanted to go even bigger and raise more money and awareness for the disease, so I decided to organise a 100-mile bike ride from one coast of Devon to the to the other over the hot May Bank Holiday Weekend last year.
How do I top that? Well, now that I'm 16 and have finished my GCSEs I can jump out of a plane, provided I have a responsible adult with me - but dad will have to do! We've asked for Friday 9 August near Honiton and will be jumping from around 15000 feet, reaching a terminal (?!) velocity of 120mph, apparently...
I was proud to receive the Young Fundraiser of the Year award last year but my hopes are that by raising money, I can help fund the critical research of IBD, to eventually find a cure and a cause, so children like me can be diagnosed and treated quickly so they don’t have to go through months of waiting and tests. As well as this, I hope that children like me with IBD will see this and realise that they can get better like I did and be able to take part in activities like this, to give them hope in a way!
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.