September was Crohn’s & Colitis Australia’s Live Fearless Challenge, but behind the campaign there is Alessia; with an invisible illness and refusing to be defined by circumstances she never chose.
At 25, Perth's Alessia Maio is studying to become a paramedic while
managing Crohn’s disease that has required three surgeries this year
alone and hospital treatment every four weeks. She first experienced
symptoms at 16, including severe pain, bleeding and needing the
bathroom up to 30 times a day, but wasn't diagnosed until she was 20.
There are still days when Alessia comes home exhausted, in pain and
dealing with symptoms nobody around her can see. Yet her experiences
as a patient have helped shape the life she wants to build. She
volunteers with children and families at Perth Children’s Hospital, is
a member of the WA Ministerial Youth Advisory Council and is pursuing
paramedicine because she wants to bring the empathy she has
experienced as a patient into her own career in healthcare.
As Alessia puts it, Crohn’s has been “a speed bump, not a roadblock”.
Thank-you Alessia for sitting with me and sharing.
Enjoy the episode
Luv Kate
OH! And if you are listening for the first time! This is your introduction (required reading). This series is unedited, raw and just gets straight into it. You have been warned!
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