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A campaign has been launched encouraging companies to allow people with intestinal diseases to use their toilets in an emergency.
Photo: RNZ / Eva Corlett
The ‘I can’t wait!’ The campaign, started by a teenager, encourages companies to put a sticker on their window to indicate that they are compatible with Crohn’s disease and colitis.
Routine tasks present a dilemma for those living with a bowel disease: stay home and get lost, or risk an accident in public.
Belinda Brown, who lives with Crohn’s disease, a disease that causes chronic inflammation in the gut, relayed one such experience at the launch, which took place at the Atrium Cafe in Lower Hutt on Wednesday.
“If you can imagine going out shopping, and as soon as you get to the stores and your stomach starts complaining. You think ‘I have to go and I have to go now.’
“You can see a public toilet that is 200-300 meters away. You get to the sidewalk and go up and an accident happens. I left the mall that day crying.
“It’s absolutely humiliating. Especially at 45. To sit there and think, I can’t control my bowels.”
There are approximately 20,000 people living with Crohn’s and colitis in New Zealand, one of the highest per capita rates in the world.
Nicole Thornton, 16, is another victim and the creation behind the campaign.
She wants businesses to become openly friendly to Crohn’s by placing a sticker on their window saying they will honor the ‘I can’t wait’ cards, which are worn by people with the disease.
“Being rejected by people because they don’t know what we have, our condition … it’s just embarrassing and you’re ashamed. But you shouldn’t have to feel ashamed, it’s more about educating others,” Nicole said.
Since the age of 12, Nicole has fought for a better conscience. In 2017, he petitioned Parliament calling for companies to have a legal obligation to allow emergency access to toilets.
The Select Committee suggested educating companies instead.
This part of the campaign is just the beginning, Nicole said.
The campaign is pushing for Pharmac to bring the Stelara drug into the country. That drug could prevent people from having to undergo invasive surgery.
“If we could avoid that, it would be amazing.”
Dr. Richard Stein, President and Gastroenterologist at Crohn’s and Colitis NZ, helped Nicole get the original petition off the ground.
A recent survey of people with the disease revealed that 70 percent of people living with Crohn’s disease had had an accident in public.
And 90 percent were afraid to leave home at one point or another, while 13 percent were afraid to leave home all the time.
Fifty percent said that this situation really affected their lives.
“And how many had been denied access to a bathroom when they needed it urgently? 40 percent,” he said.
Monica Green.
Photo: RNZ / Eva Corlett
Monica Green, co-manager of Atrium Cafe, is the first company to display the new decal.
He said inclusion and a community mindset are a big part of his business model.
“Good food and service, and an open door policy should be extended to everyone, no matter what the problem is. So it was a no-brainer to be a part of it.
“There is no good reason” why companies should not participate, he said.
The campaign is supported by the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, Crohn’s & Colitis NZ and the Hutt City Council.
Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry and Crohn’s advocate Nicole Thornton.
Photo: RNZ / Eva Corlett
Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry said most people would be willing to support the campaign, once it has been educated.
“I think it’s about presenting the challenge to other cities, other councils, other districts to say that we all need to take a leadership role in this in our community.”
That included making sure the councils’ own facilities are up to par.
He said it was also about posing the challenge to the local business community.
“When we think about it and explain it, they will accept the challenge.”
Hutt Valley is the first place to do this in New Zealand, and Barry hopes it won’t be the last.
