Downpatrick man’s battle with Crohn’s disease

Downpatrick man’s battle with Crohn’s disease

29 May 2019

A DOWNPATRICK man has overcome a debilitating illness to become a fully fledged judo black belt.

Michael McMillan — from the Ulster University Judo Club — is currently celebrating becoming a 1st Dan after a recent Northern Ireland judo promotion examination event held at Belfast’s Campbell College.

He overcame a lot of personal adversity with illness to get onto the Judo mat in the first place, competing and training wearing a stoma bag under his suit.

And while he is now looking forward to continue competing at the highest levels of a sport he loves, Michael has revealed that he wants to be a motivational speaker, telling people his story to help them know that “when you are on your back and life has you in a chokehold you think you can’t get out of, there is a way to get back on your feet and fight again”.

He was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2004 aged 18 after experiencing initial symptoms of weight loss, chronic fatigue, exhaustion, a very low immune system loss of appetite and pain, which resulted in up to 15 trips to the bathroom daily. 

Michael was admitted into hospital later that year when his GP noticed a drastic change in his health. He was sent for further intrusive investigations including invasive surgery which led to the discovery of Crohn’s disease and a compete bowel resection.

After managing the condition for a while, Michael started at the University of Ulster in Coleraine in 2006 where he was introduced to Judo and this was the moment that, through sport, he reclaimed some of his lost years through illness.

“Judo for me was like that moment in the Matrix where you are offered the red or blue pill,” he explained. “I took the red pill, taking part in a sport where respect and integrity is at its core. The emphasis on personal development I prized and was engrossed in learning the names, new throws and also finding out about the top fighters.

“In 2012, my symptoms were starting to return. I had made it to brown belt at this stage, one below black. I competed in several competitions not telling anyone except my wife that my health was failing.”

Michael candidly admits that the next six years would be the toughest of his life, with the pain, fatigue and weight loss at levels he’d never experienced before. 

He continued: “In that time, I had over 50 hospital appointments, over 10 operations and medical procedures along with all the different drugs and side effects. It took its toll on my wife and I who at the time was my girlfriend, a nurse aged  21 who looking after me after long shifts in the Royal Victoria Hospital.

“We were living in Belfast at the time and we decided to move out to the countryside for me to deal with Crohn’s. While the physical pain was bad, it was the mental anguish of watching my 

exhausted wife look after me. She had to wash, change, even feed me when I was not up to it. 

“Watching my life pass me by I lost my late 20s to Crohn’s. There were many regrets, watching my wife work all the time, not being able to help her.” 

Michael said that like all young people, he had dreams and hopes of being a black belt, to compete at a higher level, be a history lecturer, travel the world and have children.

He admitted that at this point in his life, it seemed like he was never going to get the chance to accomplish them.

He said things reached a point in the summer of 2017 when his illness had him in a “chokehold” and he feared he would never get out of it. 

Michael revealed: “All the medication had failed, I was losing weight rapidly, crippled with pain and mentally and physically drained. Somewhere I found the energy to fight once more to live the life I so desperately wanted. We did whatever it took to get well again, with great family and friends supporting me all along the way.” 

“A stoma bag to the ordinary person seems an extreme solution to my illness and, after marrying my wife, to me it was the second-best decision I ever made. It is permanent, I constantly have to make adjustments but it’s a small price to pay to be well. My surgeon, Mr Jack Lee, can’t believe I am back doing judo and I can’t thank him and his amazing team enough.” 

Michael said that following surgery to fit the stoma bag he woke in the recovery room and instantly felt better, explaining that the “toxic brain fog was gone” and his energy levels were back.

“I knew from that very second I would never live a life with regret. It was a second chance and every day is precious and as long as I take a step towards my dreams each day, life would be great. I started Judo again in January this year with a coaching course 

because I thought with the stoma, I would not be able to participate and fight like I used to. Never have I been so happy to prove myself wrong. 

“The past five months have been a blast. I fought in the Irish Open, picking up two bronze medals, and the following week I fought in the Northern Ireland Open, fighting an Olympian and a Commonwealth Games competitor, and managing to pick up two more bronze medals.”

Michael said it was a particularly emotional event for him and he felt a “monkey was off his back” as he had planned to compete in Northern Ireland Open for the first time in 2013 but could not because of Crohn’s and being ill.

“I have finally earned my black belt at a grading where I fought five times, three of which were one after each other. The emotion of earning that belt was not about the belt itself, it is the intangible respect and integrity around earning it that makes it all worthwhile,” he continued.

“I would say to my wife Nicole when I was ill, to keep my dreams alive, if I can do whatever I can to get well again to earn the belt, that would mean all the pain and suffering was not in vain. I am going back to university in September to do a Master’s degree in History in Coleraine, returning to where it all began, only now as a black belt to coach the very beginners which I once was.” 

Michael added: “This summer, I will be competing in the British Adaptive Judo Open and I am also aiming to compete in the World and European Adaptive Judo Championships and possibly the Commonwealth Judo Championships in September in the Masters (over 30s) category.

“I want to be a motivational speaker, tell people my story and help them know that when you are on your back and life has you in a chokehold you think you can’t get out of, there is a way to get back on your feet and fight again.

“I’d like to thank my coaches over the years. If I hadn’t had them pushing me forward and teaching me, I would not have had something to motivate me to get well. Thank you to Richard Briggs, Jim Toland, Lisa Bradley, Stephen McCluskey, Jonathan Cooke, my wife and of course the surgeon Mr Lee and his team and the nurses on Ward 2 South in the City Hospital.”