Dallas Fowler was recently in the Walmart checkout line with her 2-year-old son Jameus when he asked her to pick him up for a cuddle. Not one to deny a cute toddler, Dallas obliged and lifted her son out of the cart. When she did, his shirt rode up to reveal his tummy. It also revealed the colostomy bags that Jameus has attached to his abdomen.
The woman behind them in line gasped at the sight of the bags and recoiled in horror. She asked Dallas, “why in the world would you let someone do that to him?”. Like a mother would choose to have a procedure like that done to a child. Dallas explained to the woman that her son had a medical condition that left him needing the bags.
The woman called them “repulsive” and asked Dallas to keep her son’s shirt down. At that point, Dallas was so fed up with the woman’s ignorant behavior that she left the line to go to another one.
What the woman did not know was that Jameus was born with a condition called Hirschsprung’s disease which causes issues with the large intestines. At just 2-years-old, little Jameus has had to undergo 20 surgeries so far because of this condition. At 2-weeks-old, he suffered a colon rupture and the bags were put in place to save his life. They may be there for the rest of his life.
He is just like other children. He can play, swim, and even attends daycare. Dallas wants people to know what kind of an impact negative words can have on others. You never know what others are going through, be kind; everyone is fighting a battle that you know nothing about. Luckily Jameus is winning his battle with Hirschsprung’s disease.