#89 Caradh O'Donovan - Fighting with Crohn's

In today's episode of the mind set game podcast, I sat down with Caradh O'Donovan. She is a Champion Kickboxer who has been winning World and European Kickboxing medals for the past two decades. More recently she has turned her hand to WKF Karate and within three months has become Senior National Champion and a member of the Karate Ireland Squad with her eye on competing at Tokyo 2020. In 2014, after years of battling illness Caradh was diagnosed with Crohns Disease. A debilitating illness, Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract. Signs and symptoms often include abdominal pain and cramps, diarrhoea (which may be bloody if the inflammation is severe), fever, vomiting and weight loss.  Experiencing discrimination and isolation over this disease within the sport, Caradh has decided to continue on within her sport to raise awareness of Crohns Disease and also to reduce the stigma attached to it. She speaks publicly about her journey to success, blogs often on her daily challenges and balances an athletic career in both Kickboxing and Karate while working as an Athlete Mentor and Public Speaker. For more information about Caradh check out her website caradhodonovan.com and connect with her on Twitter. For more information about Mind Set Game connect with us on Facebook @mindsetgamepodcast For more information about James Roberts (the host of the podcast), visit fitamputee.co.uk and connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram