Mom's Perfect Response To Stranger In Walmart Who Called Her Son "Repulsing" Goes Viral

Colon problems affect a lot more people than you'd imagine. The Crohns & Colitis Foundation reports that one in 200 Americans have been diagnosed with IBD, with around 30,000 new cases being diagnosed every year. However, when it comes to things that can go wrong in the colon department, the options really are limitless.

Writing as someone who has been in the unique position of watching both of my parents have stoma bags at some point throughout my childhood, I can't stress enough how much it affects someone's life. Even now, years after having his stoma surgery reversed, my dad still lives in almost daily pain because of Crohn's disease.

Credit: Facebook / Dallas Fowler

The only silver lining to my parents' situations was that they occurred later in life, unlike Jameus Fowler who had stomas at the age of just two. Sadly, he was born with a rare condition known as Hirschsprung's disease.

According to the NHS, the condition predominantly affects babies and young children, and it is characterized by the absence of the nerves which typically push stools along a person's bowel, which can result in blockages.

Credit: Facebook / Dallas Fowler

In Jameus' case, this meant that he had to be fitted with multiple stomas - the first of which when he was just two weeks old. This happened after his colon ruptured, and without the surgery, he'd have almost certainly lost his life.

Credit: Facebook / Dallas Fowler

However, because stoma bags fill with poop, there's a lot of stigma surrounding what is a lifesaving (and life-changing) device for many - usually, from people who don't want to admit their own poop, well, stinks.

Credit: Facebook / Dallas Fowler

But Jameus' mom Dallas is determined not to let her son be affected by this stigma and does everything in her power to teach him how to have a positive outlook on both his stomas.

Sadly, however, she's unable to control the reactions of other people, which led to a horrible incident at Walmart.

Credit: Facebook / Dallas Fowler

While waiting in the queue, Dallas picked her son up, causing his stomach to be exposed for a few seconds. In response to his stomas, the woman behind them in the line screamed.

She said: "Why in the world would you let someone do that to him?"

Dallas then told the woman that her son suffers from a colon disease, a condition which, in some for another, means that more than half a million Americans have stomas.

However, instead of profusely apologizing for her outrageous reaction, the woman replied: "Well, I am sorry, but I just think that is so 'repulsing,' can you please keep his shirt down?"

Understandably perturbed by the woman's ignorance, Dallas wrote the following open letter on Facebook:

"Tonight, we were in Walmart standing in a long line waiting to check out. My sweet 2-year-old wanted me to hold him. As I picked him up out of the cart, his shirt came up exposing his two stomas and bags on his stomach. Typically, I have a onesie underneath his shirt, but tonight I just got him dressed quickly to run to the store. The onesie helps to keep his bags in one place and makes it harder for him to tug and pull them off.

"There was an older woman in line behind me who caught a glimpse and shrieked a little before she said to me, “Why in the world would you let someone do that to him?”

"I turned around speechless and just looked at her before she continued and asked why he had them. I gave her the short version and basically said, “His colon didn’t finish forming so he needed them.” I left out that he had a rare disease called Hirschsprung’s disease because I was a little annoyed from her first statement. She then goes, “Well I am sorry, but I just think that is so repulsing, can you please keep his shirt down?” At this point I just wanted to shake this woman and scream “What is wrong with you?” But instead, I told her to have a good night and went to another line.

"So now I’m sharing this picture — because there is nothing repulsing about my son. Stomas and ostomies seem to be a taboo, when in reality, more than 500,000 Americans have one. My son’s disease may be rare, but his stomas are not."

Needless to say, we dread to think the negative effect which an adult calling a two-year-old's body "repulsing" could have.

Credit: Facebook / Dallas Fowler

Dallas continued on Facebook: "See what that woman doesn't understand is, when my son is healthy, he is no different than any other 2-year-old. He runs, plays, swims and goes to daycare. When he's healthy, you wouldn't be able to look at him and know he’s had over 20 surgeries and procedures."

Credit: Facebook / Dallas Fowler

"Please be kind and choose your words wisely, especially should you choose to comment about something that is none of your business. Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about, and my son is winning his," Dallas concluded.

So, the next time you see someone with an addition to their body that you don't understand, do the decent thing and keep your mouth shut. Under no circumstances does anyone have the right to call someone else "repulsing" - especially a child.