Bowel disease drug trial helps teen's dance dreams

An teenage dancer who feared her dream of a career on the stage was over when she was diagnosed with bowel disease said participating in a clinical trial has drastically improved her health.

Georgia Banks, 18, from Maltby in Rotherham started dancing when she was two years old, but became ill in 2020 following a family holiday and was left so tired she had to cut back on her training.

"I was being sick, I was just going to the toilet all the time, it was not nice," she said.

After months of investigations she was eventually diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease by healthcare professionals at Sheffield Children's hospital.

Further medical investigations narrowed the symptoms down to ulcerative colitis - a long-term condition where the colon and rectum become inflamed. The symptoms include extreme tiredness and tummy pain.

"I felt really tired a lot of the time. After doing a show I'd have to spend three days in bed recovering," Banks said.

"Before that, I would dance five times a week, and we had to bring that down to twice a week."

She tried various routine therapies, including intravenous drugs, but none of the conventional therapies made a long lasting improvement.

She said she faced the prospect of trying a different medication which she would have to inject herself, or having her bowel removed and replaced with a stoma and colostomy bag.

But she was also offered the opportunity to join a clinical trial for patients with moderate to severe symptoms, which she accepted and enabled her to access a new drug treatment.

The medication is taken as a tablet, meaning she only needs to attend Sheffield Children's once a month. Within a week, Banks found her condition began to improve.

"The clinical trial I've been on just over a year, and it's definitely helped. I'm so much better, like 99% better than I was."

The improvement in Banks' condition has meant that she has been able to accept a place to study dance at Wakefield College.

She said she now feels completely normal, the way she felt before she got the condition and she is now looking to the future.

"I've always wanted to dance on the West End. I think my next steps will be about heading towards that," she said.

"There are so many amazing West End shows that I would love to be a part of. The plan is to get an agent and see what happens next, maybe performing on a cruise ship, which would be great too."

The study Banks is taking part in is one of more than 300 research studies currently under way at Sheffield Children's dedicated clinical research facility.

Dr Akshay Kapoor, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Lead at the hospital, said: "We are proud to lead research that makes a real difference to our patients.

"Every child who joins a study helps us discover better treatments, both for themselves and for others in the future."

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North