Imagine living with a debilitating bowel condition that left you in chronic pain and unable to walk or work.
This is the reality that one Manchester man has had to face on a daily basis since his diagnosis, at the age of nine, with Crohn’s Disease, but despite this daily battle he is vowing to help others in a similar position.
Tony Potts, a 28-year-old father of one from Prestwich, is hoping to raise funds, awareness and contribute towards the understanding of the condition by leaving his organs to research.
He said: “ I’m looking to leave my bowels to medical research, as they’ll be of no use to me, so if researchers can have a look and learn something from it then it could prove vital.
“You always hear people donating their whole bodies, but I didn’t want to do that. I just want them to take the bits that are wrong and do some research with it.”
Crohn’s Disease is a form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease that often goes unnoticed among large swathes of the public, despite affecting roughly 60,000 people in the UK.
The condition causes the bowels to become inflamed, with common symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, weight loss, arthritis and tiredness.
Tony has a particularly bad case of the disease, also suffering with osteoporosis, arthralgia, fibromyalgia and chronic depression which makes day-to-day activities such as walking, something we all take for granted, particularly problematic.
Tony fell ill and was forced to spend time in hospital when he was 16 with his weight dropping to just 6st, just after the birth of his 11-year-old son Jordan.
At the time he was working in catering and had just finished a course of steroids, which meant he lost his appetite causing his weight to plummet.
“I ended up arguing with the doctor. He wanted to me to have the tube put in but at the time I disagreed,” he said.
“Obviously looking back now I know what he meant, but as a child you don’t expect it to be that serious. If I didn’t have the tube put in it would have basically given me six months.”
Tony is a proactive member of the Crohn’s and Colitis UK group which is responsible for fundraising in Manchester and the North West.
He said: “We’ve not been that active this year as everyone in the group seems to be getting ill. My aim is to eventually raise £1million.”
He began fundraising back in 2008 after winning a competition with Channel 4 to appear as an extra in Shameless, and was inspired by a young girl in a wheelchair who raised £1million for charity.
Despite struggling to take part in fundraising events himself, Tony has paid a lot of thought to what can be done to help raise funds and awareness.
The Crohn’s and Colitis Manchester group held a big stall at Prestwich Carnival, as well as having collection boxes in shops and selling merchandise.
He said: “Raising awareness of Crohn’s is really important. When you explain it to people now it’s like they don’t want to know.
“Obviously talking about Crohn’s can be quite graphic, but people need to be told about it even if they don’t want to know. Just so it can register in their head and one day they might be able to help someone and support them.”
Along with an extensive list of medication to help deal with Crohn’s, Tony also takes painkillers to help with the discomfort he feels in his stomach, bones and joints.
His grandmother was also diagnosed with IBD, and had to have parts of her bowel removed.
He explained: “I feel my Crohn’s has affected every aspect of my life from my education and work life, to social life and relationships.”
“But would I consider myself an unsung hero? Not really, I’m just trying to help.
“I just want to try and change one little thing even if it’s just changing attitudes in school, where children can be quite harsh because they don’t understand.
“If schools let children use the staff toilets, so they can have privacy and feel more comfortable, then just a little change like that would make a huge difference.”
You can visit Tony’s Just Giving page here.
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