Colchester man with Crohn’s disease taking on mammoth charity challenge

And having a good heart is not judged by the way you look or the disabilities you have.

Peter Ramsey, also knows as Pip, is the true example of that.

Pip, 43, of Colchester was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2003, which meant he had to have an ostomy bag to deal with waste from his body.

Pip is now stepping up to do 160,000 steps throughout September in support of Colostomy UK and everyone in the same position as him.

There are 160,000 people in the UK with a stoma and the charity is inviting volunteers to take a step for every single one of them.

To cover the steps by themselves, fundraisers need to do about 5,300 steps a day or 2.5 miles.

This is equal to 50 minutes of walking or 30 minutes of running each day.

But Pip, who wants to raise £1,000, has bigger ambitions.

He said: “I set myself a challenge to triple this. In the past nine days I have accumulated almost 300, 000 steps. I am smashing the target.”

Because of his arthritis, Pip finds it difficult to rise to the challenge from the gym. So he does it during hydrotherapy in Aqua Springs.

He added: “I can’t do exercises at the gym because I just flare my joints up.

“Literally all my workout is from parking my car, walking to Aqua Springs and then my steps are coming from there.”

Going back in time, Pip remembers he was only 27 when he got the ostomy bag and unaware of the condition.

His small and large bowel got twisted, which meant the surgery was a matter of life or death.

But living with an ostomy bag turned his life upside down and took a toll on his mental health too.

He added: “Back then I just thought ileostomy bags are just what old people have and I was really depressed about it.

“Having that bag meant me being a different person and it wasn’t easy for the first two to three years. I wouldn’t want to go out and take my top off because I just thought everyone would be staring at my bag.

“It was only thanks to social media pages I felt less alone in having an ostomy bag and a stoma.”

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Pip shared his life has completely changed and his social activities now involve Aqua Springs and seeing his three kids on the weekend.

The ostomy bag meant he went from being “quite happy and out there “to “quite a loner”.

However, what helped Pip to accept himself were tattoos.

He spent eight hours under the needle to raise money for Crohn’s and Colitis UK in 2014.

The four big tattoos inked on his stomach and bottom helped him distract attention from the ileostomy bag and also gave him the chance to raise more than £1,200.

Years later, Pip is still doing everything he can with the step up challenge to support everyone in the same boat as him.

He added: “I thought this is going to work extremely well for me mentally and physically, and I like fundraising.

“If I can help other along the way just by fundraising or making awareness then I am doing something good and it makes me feel good.”

Pip shared he has gone through many challenges throughout the years, but he is always trying to find the silver lining.

He said: “Mentally it still hurts knowing I don’t have the body like most men but I try my best to see the positive side - like my three kids came after my surgery and I’m not having the fistulas giving me pain.”

To support Pip visit justgiving.com/fundraising/peter-ramsey311.