The world of boxing is talking about what happened in the Rivers Casino in Rhode Island when 18-yr-old fighter Michael Valentin revealed he has boxed for years with a colostomy bag.
The New Yorker celebrated his fourth victory of his career announcing his medical condition to the world.
Colostomy/ileostomy bags are little pouches that sit on the outside of the stomach and collect waste and are emptied when necessary.
They’re one way of “curing” ulcerative colitis and helping crohns sufferers regain stability and control of their life again.
The boxer went onto say at the end of his victorious bout against Demetrius Wilson:
“I’m a going to take a break after this fight,” he said.
“I know it’s going to hurt me, but, all my life, I dealt with adversity.”
He said he’ll be out for 8 or 9 months to recover from surgery but that he’s a fighter and he will be back.
The boxer has been proclaimed a hero by sports personalities across the world and has been declared a role model from IBD (inflamatory bowel disease) sufferers who are happy he shone a light on people who have bags and that they can live a happy and normal life with one and that there should be no stigma attached to having one.