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A rugby league player who underwent “life-saving” surgery has described being able to get back on the pitch with a stoma bag as a “second chance”.

Michael Adams, 30, from Harrogate, from North Yorkshire, spent several weeks in “pure agony” with ulcerative colitis after falling seriously ill on Boxing Day last year.

After recovery, he is now back to playing the sport with his stoma bag as part of physical disability rugby league side Colostomy UK.

“It just shows people that you can go and do whatever you want,” he said.

Mr Adams spent 12 years in the British Army as part of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

After leaving in 2023, he planned to move to Australia and had found a new job and a local rugby side to join.

“Unfortunately, just before I left on Boxing Day I got sick,” he said.

“My whole intestine was inflamed and filled with ulcers and it was pure agony.”

Michael spent seven weeks in hospital undergoing treatment before making the decision to have a stoma fitted.

“Nothing was working for me – I was having different therapies, different drugs to try and none of them were working,” he said.

“Me and my mum sat there and had a little cry and the next day I was shipped off to get a stoma bag.”

The Colostomy UK charity wants to encourage more people to “see stoma bags as life enabling rather than life limiting”, even whilst playing high-contact sports.

“It was a mental challenge of coming from being in the Army and being a strong fit healthy person to being down at the bottom,” he said.

“My goal was to get back on the rugby pitch and I managed to do that in 12 weeks post-surgery – not sure my stoma nurse would be too happy with me saying that, but I absolutely loved it.”

He added: “The stoma doesn’t actually have any feeling whatsoever, so if I take a knock it doesn’t hurt at all.”

According to the NHS, ulcerative colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease where the colon and rectum become inflamed.

Painful ulcers can develop on the lining of the large intestine (bowel).

There often aren’t specific triggers for flare-ups and it is unclear what causes the immune system to behave this way.

It can be treated with medication for most people, but in serious cases part or all of the intestine is removed and diverted through an opening in the abdomen.

A stoma bag is attached to the outside of the body to collect waste and is changed when necessary.

Christine Adams, his mother, said: “From him saying he was going have the stoma to where he’s got to now is absolutely brilliant.

“I’m so pleased for him, he’s doing so well.”

Colostomy UK says about 200,000 people live with a stoma bag in the UK – around one in every 335 people.

“You do have to be careful playing a contact collision sport with a stoma, but there are little things that our players do to just make sure that they can play safely,” said team manager Giovanni Cinque.

“Some will wear a compression top, some will wear a support belt.”

Mr Adams uses social media to help others who are going through similar issues and wants to raise awareness of life with a stoma.

“It’s been absolutely brilliant for people to come on and message me and ask me little questions about stuff that they might be worried about,” he added.

“I’m really excited to see where it goes.”

TV show The Unbreakables: Life & Love on Disability Campus was a pioneering series that explored the challenges, fun and heartbreak experienced by Gloucestershire’s National Star College students. But 10 years later, two of the stars say they still face challenges and their fight for change continues.

Sasha Parker has just watched back some of The Unbreakables and is feeling emotional as she remembers how it captured her fight to move somewhere she could live independently.

The BBC Three series showed its young stars falling in love, studying, and partying, but also highlighted the battles those living with additional needs face, from securing a future home to trying to find work.

Famously, it included a sequence where Sasha’s then local authority wanted to place her in a nursing home. She was just 20 at the time.

Sasha, who has spastic cerebral palsy, is now living in her own house, with 24-hour care and support. Her parents fought hard and helped to pay for it. She knows how fortunate she is.

“[If I wasn’t here] I’d probably be in the care home or in supported living which is no good for me. It’s brilliant for other people but no good for me,” Sasha added.

Despite a real desire to work and passion to help others, she says new opportunities are scarce.

“I could actually do so much more than I do already, and I think it’s really important to give stuff back as well,” she says.

“I just think it’s important to have a life goal and at the moment I don’t have a job so I would actually really love to give something back to people.”

Joshua Reeves, who has cerebral palsy and was a student at the college in 2015, also watched the series back where he lives in Cardiff. He became emotional as he saw his younger self talk to the then college principal about wanting to start a campaign for disabled rights.

He described it as a pivotal moment for him.

“It brought something out of me, and I don’t think I would be doing what I’m doing today,” he says.

“The principal at the time, Kathryn Rudd, who has sadly passed away, really pushed on me to channel what I’m dealing with in society, and I thought I’ve got a strong voice, I want to use it and I could be a voice for the voiceless.”

Joshua went on to start a campaign called “Don’t Call Me Special” which raises awareness of people with disabilities and their rights. His work led to him being awarded a British Empire Medal.

“It was an honour to have that award to say, ‘look, Josh, you’ve done great for the community’.

“But the fight ain’t over. For myself, being a disabled person, it’s only my impairment. It doesn’t define who I am,” he said.

Ten years on from The Unbreakables much has changed but Joshua and Sasha say there are still huge issues that need to be dealt with for people with disabilities.

Joshua recently campaigned outside parliament as the government tried to cut Personal Independence Payments (Pip), when ministers announced plans to tighten daily living assessments for claimants.

The changes will not come into force until MPs have had time to consider recommendations of a Pip review.

“I would love to see the young generation really step up the fight now,” he says.

For Sasha, despite legislation, accessibility is still a big problem and stops her being able to do some of what she wants to do.

“Accessibility is just shocking in places here [Bristol], it’s really bad, such as lifts and toilets. It’s always a barrier.”