AN assistant head teacher has put himself in the shoes of a 14-year-old student who has Crohn's disease.

Lee Peachey, who teaches at St Mary’s Catholic High School in Astley, has provided ongoing support to Ellie Pugh, from Atherleigh.

And after going on the In My Shoes: 24 Hours with Crohn’s or Colitis mobile app, Mr Peachey now appreciates what it is like to be Ellie for 24 hours.

Lee, 32, started the experience when he woke up at 5am.

Halfway through his breakfast he received a notification to say he was having cramps and had to leave his food.

On the drive to the Manchester Road school he had a three-minute warning to find a toilet, so he had to pull in at McDonald's and was late for his first meeting after getting stuck in traffic.

Throughout the day he had to leave lessons and meetings at a moment’s notice to visit the bathroom, take time out of the day to deal with pain or cramping symptoms.

Mr Peachey said: “It was such an eye-opening experience.

"My stress levels were through the roof.

"In fact four different colleagues, unaware I was doing the app, stopped me at different points in the day and asked if I was OK as I looked shattered and stressed."

Ellie kept checking with Mr Peachey during the day and offered her support.

And her mum Donna, 37, who also has Crohn's, got in touch with him that evening – when he still had another 10 hours to go to complete the experience.

“The biggest thing for me was the worrying about the commute", Mr Peachey said.

"I travelled a different route home to try and plan for flare up and where I could safety stop at supermarkets for toilet breaks."

Leigh Journal:

Ellie shows off the mobile phone app, In My Shoes: 24 Hours with Crohn’s or Colitis

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Back in 2012 when Ellie was seven, Donna thought her daughter had a stomach bug but when it hadn't cleared after two weeks she knew something was wrong.

She collapsed and was taken to hospital, where she stayed for a week but showed no improvement.

Ellie was transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital where she was given a tube for feeding and a diagnosis of severe Crohn’s disease.

Since then she has had different treatments including major bowel surgery.

In October she went to school for the first time this year.

Throughout her painful journey brave Ellie, who wants to go to university to be a paediatric clinical nurse specialist, has fundraised for Crohn’s and Colitis UK and raised awareness of the charity, including the new app.