Gutsy young man: Crohn's and colitis hidden diseases (3 photos)

Eighteen-year-old David Gagnon is about to graduate from École secondaire Macdonald-Cartier. He looks like a healthy young man.

But looks can be deceiving. Gagnon lives with a hidden disease. When he was 15, he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease that causes inflammation and ulcers in the colon.

Gagnon was forced to miss part of Grade 11 because his medication wasn't really working. His doctors finally got his medication right, and in his words, he's been “rocking it” in Grade 12.

He said he wants people to know that living with ulcerative colitis isn't easy.

“It's not just, he has the sh*ts, laugh at him,” Gagnon said.

“It used to be fatal, and not every medication works for everyone. Some people have to go through surgery, and even then, they might just get it again. You can't underestimate the impact this disease can have on someone's life.”

Gagnon was the honourary chair of this Sudbury's 2015 Gutsy Walk, which took place in Bell Park June 7. Organizers hoped to raise $31,000 for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada.

“One in 150 people in Canada suffer from Crohn's and Colitis,” said Nancy O'Halloran, development co-ordinator with Crohn's and Colitis Canada Ontario North, who attended the walk.

“There's over 330,000 people in Canada (with these diseases) ... The goal across Canada is to raise $3.3 million this year, and that goes towards research, but also to make the lives of people suffering with these two diseases easier — to find better drugs, better treatment, more affordable drugs.”

Stephanie Gallagher is the co-chair of Sudbury's Gutsy Walk. She said she got involved because of her mom, Nancy.

In 2008, her mom was diagnosed with Crohn's disease — a type of inflammatory bowel disease that may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, from mouth to anus.

Nancy had all but six inches of her small intestines surgically removed, and used an ostomy bag. She passed away two years ago from lung, liver and bone cancer.

“Although she died of cancer, she suffered far more with Crohn's,” Gallagher said. “I'm lucky I don't have Crohn's or Colitis. I don't wish it on anybody.”

For more information, visit www.gutsywalk.ca.