BY SCOTT BLINKHORN
November is Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Month. Conestoga in Action (CIA), a club dedicated to creating positive change in the local community, will be holding a fundraiser throughout the month to try and help find a cure.
The event, called #give a (poop emoji), will take place every Wednesday in November in the atrium on Conestoga’s Doon campus. CIA hopes to educate students on the difficulties that Crohn’s and colitis sufferers go through while keeping the event fun and upbeat. The booth will feature games as well as a draw for prizes. Donations will be collected for The Gutsy Walk for Crohn’s and Colitis, an annual event to raise funds for research on the diseases. The walk will be held in June 2017.
Colitis causes inflammation in the large bowel. The pain can sometimes be severe enough to require the removal of part or all of the large bowel, though medication can often provide relief. The cause of colitis is still unknown, and surgery is the only known cure.
Crohn’s affects a larger area than colitis. Sufferers can experience pain anywhere along the gastrointestinal track. Like colitis the cause of Crohn’s is unknown; unlike colitis, however, it has no cure.
“We have decided to hold this event because it is a disease that very few people talk about due to the nature of the symptoms,” said Tom Hemingway, vice-president of CIA.
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