kilometres 4 crohn’s & colitis

Thanks for visiting my page! Here's my story:

I was eight years old when my body started changing in ways I didn’t understand.

At the time, I was a competitive gymnast. Gymnastics was my whole world - until exhaustion, constant stomach pain, and fatigue slowly took over. Practices became something I dreaded instead of loved. I would push through routines only to double over afterward, completely drained. Eventually, the pain became unbearable, and I had to quit the sport I had built my life around, with no explanation for why my body was failing me.

For years, there were no answers.

By fifth grade, my symptoms had escalated. Eating was painful. I was losing weight instead of gaining it, and malnutrition caused my hair to fall out. My joints hurt so badly that walking was difficult. I was constantly feverish, and some days I needed long naps just to survive the day. I went to school every day but could barely stay awake in class, wore layers even when it wasn’t cold, and came home completely exhausted. When school went virtual, it was actually a relief - I could manage my energy from my bed.

On the last day of virtual school, my mom received a call from my doctor and rushed me to the emergency department because of my bloodwork. What followed was a blur of tests, needles, scans, feeding tubes, and hospital rooms. After two weeks in the hospital, I finally had an answer: Crohn’s disease. 

I was eleven years old.

Crohn’s disease is a lifelong, incurable form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) where the immune system attacks the digestive tract. Since my diagnosis in 2021, I’ve been on four different medications, countless rounds of steroids, infusions, injections, MRIs, colonoscopies, and more bloodwork than I can count. Some treatments worked and then stopped. Others didn’t work at all. Steroids helped my body but seriously affected my mental health. Living with IBD means constantly adjusting - to side effects, uncertainty, fatigue, and a body that doesn’t always cooperate.

One moment that changed everything for me was attending an IBD event for kids at my hospital. I expected a small group, but the room was packed. And then I saw a girl from my tiny school - only about 200 students total - there too. Suddenly, it hit me: even in a school so small that everyone knows everyone, someone else was quietly living this same struggle. I wasn’t alone - and neither are the hundreds of thousands of Canadians with IBD.

Crohn’s has taken a lot from me: my sport, my energy, and parts of my childhood I can’t get back. But it’s also given me a voice. By sharing my story, I’ve connected with others who feel unseen, misunderstood, or dismissed - and that matters to me.

I’m currently 15 years old and training for a half marathon, with a challenge for myself: for every $5 raised, I will run 1 kilometre. Every donation turns into something tangible. Every kilometre represents  hope for better treatments - and one day, a cure.

Crohn’s & Colitis Canada funds critical research, education, and advocacy for people living with IBD. Their work supports kids still waiting for answers, teens learning to manage a lifelong illness, and families navigating an incredibly complex system.

This fundraiser is my way of turning something that once took so much from me into something that gives back.

Whether you donate, share this page, or follow along, thank you for supporting me and the IBD community. Every step truly counts.

XOXO,
Gabriella 💜