MANLY Vale funnyman Luke Escombe has spoken about his battle with Crohn’s disease at an emotional awareness lunch at Parliament House in Canberra yesterday.
The 33-year-old musician and comedian said the lunch, organised by Crohn’s & Colitis Australia, was an opportunity to speak honestly about living with the little known disease.
“It was quite powerful – I ended up having some MPs coming up to me in tears afterwards and telling me how moved they were with my speech,” he said.
“I was talking about 20 years of living with this illness, so it was powerful stuff. to speak honestly about it was a massive relief.” mr Escombe was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when he was 14.
He’s had two major flare-ups which left him house-bound for years and even hospitalised him. he said the disease influenced his work and forced him to spend time in isolation. “if I have funny views it’s because my perspective that has been forced on me is that of an outsider,” he said.
His show, Chronic, performed at the Sydney Fringe Festival this year, incorporates aspects of living with the disease to create awareness. mr Escombe said he urged young people not to ignore the symptoms of the disease or suffer in silence.
“many people are diagnosed too late because they feel embarrassed or scared to go to their doctor,” he said. “once you accept the illness, you can learn to live with it and you can achieve amazing things.”
Mr Escombe will perform at Davefest at Mona Vale Hotel tonight. Entry is $15.
KNOW THE FACTS-More than 70,000 Australians have been diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, the collective term for Crohn’s disease and colitis-The disease is more prevalent than MS, epilepsy and rheumatoid arthritis, but awareness is very low