A FORMER marine engineer who was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at 18 is hoping his experience can help others.
Louie Eddom, of Hessle, was halfway through the second phase of his training for the Royal Navy when he received shocking news that would put an end to his career and change his life indefinitely.
After suffering from what he believed to be a stomach bug, Louie, now 21, struggled to come to terms with what he was hearing.
He said: "I didn't know what to make of it, it's quite a big thing to take on board when somebody tells you you're going to be ill for the rest of your life.
"After getting over the shock of that, I was devastated that I was potentially going to lose my job, and I did.
"As well as the physical pain you go through, mentally it was quite a struggle to get over that I'm ill and the job I've worked so hard to get I could no longer do."
Louie kept his illness from his family and girlfriend, Lottie Hankin, and continued to strug- gle through his life in the Navy, pretending nothing was wrong.
He said: "I felt embarrassed that there was something wrong with me and it took me about a year to tell my family.
"I hid it from Lottie for quite a while until she found some of my tablets and asked me what they was for and I felt comfortable enough to tell her."
Louie's health worsened and after facing a second medical board, he was discharged from the Navy last September.
Lottie, 20, said seeing him go through the illness has been difficult.
She said: "It was heart breaking. I cry when Louie is not around because I don't like him to see that I get upset about it, but it's horrible because it's someone you care about and it's out of my control.
"It was horrible to see that this monster of an illness has taken over."
Although initially feeling embarrassed, Louie now believes speaking about Crohn's – a type of inflammatory bowel disease – has helped.
He said: "Now, I feel more comfortable talking to people about it and it's nice to try to explain and let people know so they can go on and tell more people.
"The more I've learnt about it, the more comfortable I am talking about it and Lottie has helped a lot with that."
Despite dropping from 13st to 10st within a matter of months, Louie is now doing well and is in the process of going into "remission", which is the final effort before potential surgery.
Louie's older brother also has Crohn's disease, which has provided him with some comfort and support.
Louie said: "It's good having a brother with the same condition as you can talk to them about it."
