This is the inspirational 19-year-old who is not letting her life-changing disease dent her confidence - in fact, it is doing exactly the opposite.
Hattie Gladwell may have to wear an ostomy bag for the rest of her life, but the beautiful teen from West Sussex is refusing to let that get her down.
Through her blog, she is challenging the stigma attached to those who have to live with a stoma - an opening in the abdomen made by surgeons to help extract waste from the body - as she battles bowel disease.
On her website - entitled More Than Your Bag - she tells how she is not afraid to take selfies, have sex or don a bikini despite living with the condition.
It all began in January this year when she was sent to hospital with suspected appendicitis.
But it turned out to be ulcerative colitis.
She said: "At first, I was scared I wouldn't be able to live a normal life.
"For the first few weeks I was unable to look down at my stomach without wanting to cry.
"At only 19, there is so much pressure to be attractive to society that I wasn't sure I would cope with something that wasn't deemed 'normal'."
Brave Hattie is now determined to be herself, and not let the condition dominate her life.
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