not to have any shame. i i can do anything. cheering gill castle was so severely injured in childbirth in october 2011 that she had to have a colostomy operation. she d suffered a fistula a hole between her rectum and hervagina and a fourth degree tear which couldn t be repaired. so she had to have her bowel diverted out onto her abdomen, creating a permanent stoma. knowing how hard it was to come to terms with this massive life change, she wanted to let others see it couldn t stop herfrom doing anything. when i first had my stoma surgery, i was told, no, you can t do that to a lot of things. but my attitude is, well, why not? nothing ventured, nothing gained. i don t want to dwell all the time on what happened in the past. i also want to show people what s possible moving forward. screams morning, everybody! here we are at ben nevis. and that s really important, to give people hope, i think. good morning, happy campers! and throughout the winter of 2020, gill did jus
i was, gosh, with a colostomy bag, swimming, enjoying life? i said, yes, i can. i ve learnt to be confident, not to have any shame. i i can do anything. cheering gill castle was so severely injured in childbirth in october 2011 that she had to have a colostomy operation. she d suffered a fistula a hole between her rectum and hervagina and a fourth degree tear which couldn t be repaired. so she had to have her bowel diverted out onto her abdomen, creating a permanent stoma. knowing how hard it was to come to terms with this massive life change, she wanted to let others see it couldn t stop herfrom doing anything. when i first had my stoma surgery, i was told, no, you can t do that to a lot of things. but my attitude is, well, why not? nothing ventured, nothing gained. shivers i don t want to dwell all the time on what happened in the past. i also want to show people what s possible moving forward. screams morning, everybody! here we are at ben nevis. and that s rea
On my own, surrounded by donated stoma boxes, packing them off and sending them to this hospital in kenya, to these women i ve never met. you know, it sjust sort of gone boomph! and now, you have a charity. gill s channel swim raised funds for her charity chameleon buddies, which supports people with stomas in the uk and in kenya. gill chose the chameleon as it s adaptable much like the people she wants to help. around 13.5 million people worldwide are thought to live with a stoma, an often hidden condition which sometimes leads to embarrassment and shame. and in kenya, women fear being ostracised by their communities. the chameleon buddies came to the gynocare hospital in eldoret, in the west of kenya, for a week to hand over supplies of bags, help the women learn to manage their stomas and to support each other.
well, we have lots of surplus in the uk that can t be given back to the hospital. they can t go anywhere other than landfill. so, ifundraised. it s absolutely insane to me to think that two years ago i was in my little garage in alnwick, in northumberland, on my own, surrounded by donated stoma boxes, packing them off and sending them to this hospital in kenya, to these women i ve never met. you know, it sjust sort of gone boomph! and now, you have a charity. and now, i ve got a charity. gill s channel swim raised funds for her charity chameleon buddies, which supports people with stomas in the uk and in kenya. gill chose the chameleon as it s adaptable much like the people she wants to help. around 13.5 million people worldwide are thought to live with a stoma, an often hidden condition which sometimes leads to embarrassment and shame. and in kenya, women fear being ostracised by their communities. the chameleon buddies came to the gynocare hospital