Jamie Cassel, a 27-year-old air-conditioning engineer from Harrow, joined the Royal Parks race in Hyde Park.
He was raising funds for the Crohn’s and Colitis UK charity which helps people with the digestive disease and campaigns for research to find a cure.
“This run was for every single person who feels like they’re fighting alone,” he said. “It was to show that even after everything there’s still strength, hope and a way forward in life with a stoma and things do get better.”
Jamie, who went to Salvatorian College in Harrow, was just a teenager when he received the life-changing diagnosis of Colitis, an incurable disease with debilitating symptoms. He was thrown into countless hospital trips and had frightening episodes of sepsis blood poisoning.
It led to stoma surgery which means he now has to live with a permanent stoma bag.
But it wasn’t enough to stop him taking on the 13-mile half-marathon on October 12.
Jamie is now determined to show that anything is possible despite living with chronic illness and a stoma, from battling the mental health implications of such a profound life-impacting disease to the physical pain he suffers.
Colitis is swelling or inflammation of the large intestine or colon. It maybe acute and self-limited or long-term. More severe symptoms may include shortness of breath, fast or irregular heartbeat and fever. Less common conditions could lead to arthritis, ulcers or skin irritation.
