Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper has said she was once told she had “just four days left to live”, as she shared her experiences of Crohn’s disease.
Addressing the party’s autumn conference in Brighton on Monday, Ms Cooper told delegates that “12 years ago” she was “rushed to hospital” and then later “sobbed” as she faced the prospect of having to give up work.
“A few weeks in, I was told that without major surgery I had just four days left to live. My weight had dropped to around seven stone, my eyesight was failing,” she told delegates.
“Fed through a feeding tube”
Recalling her experiences, she said that her arms had gone “black and blue” and she was “fed only through a feeding tube”.
“But it wasn’t the prospect of major surgery that upset me, it was what was said next,” Ms Cooper said.
“Even if you survive Daisy, even if you recover, you’ll probably never work again. Your Crohn’s disease is so aggressive, at most you might be able to work one day a week.”
According to Crohn’s and Colitis UK, with Crohn’s disease “your immune system starts attacking your gut. This causes painful ulcers and inflammation that can be anywhere in your gut from your mouth to your bum”.
Further surgeries
Ms Cooper, the MP for St Albans, told the conference that she was advised she would probably need further surgeries and was handed an information pack about what benefits she may be entitled to.
She said she laid in her hospital bed and “sobbed”.
“I sobbed and I sobbed and I sobbed for 17 hours straight. It felt like my world had fallen apart. As a campaigner, I have always found my meaning and purpose in my work,” she said.
“As is the case with so many millions of people, the NHS didn’t just save my life, the people who make our NHS what it is gave me my life back.”
Later in her speech, Ms Cooper told Labour that if they did not see “the right level of ambition” from the Government on health, the Lib Dems would “hold your feet to the fire”.
In her keynote speech, Ms Cooper said that she had a “message for the Labour Government”.
Addressing Health Secretary Wes Streeting, she said: “Take up our ideas or put forward your own, and if we support them, we’ll back them. But if we do not see the right level of ambition or urgency, we will hold your feet to the fire.”
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