Reality star Louise Thompson has said a new Lego character with an ostomy bag is “so important” as she will “help children engage in a dialogue around visible and non-visible disabilities”.
The former Made In Chelsea star, who has a stoma bag, hopes that Sara, one of the disabled figures who features in the Lego Group’s Friends sets, will help to educate people about the subject.
Thompson, 34, who has suffered a string of health issues since the birth of her son Leo in 2021, revealed in April that she had undergone surgery for a stoma, which Colostomy UK describes as an opening on the surface of the abdomen surgically created to divert the flow of faeces or urine.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Thompson said: “It makes me feel emotional knowing that there are people out there who understand how important it is to be inclusive in the toy building process because, at the end of the day, toys are the entry point for a child into the world.
“They’re fundamental in their development. They shape their view of what they see.
“And I think, to include a little character like Sara, who’s got an ostomy bag – so accurately as well, designed with the team of specialists, and also other stoma wearers to make sure that the bag’s in the right place, and the abdominal scar and everything.
“It’s so important because it will help children engage in a dialogue around visible and non-visible disabilities.”
“At home, we make a really big effort to try and normalise it around my son”, she added.
“It’s obviously a huge deal (my stoma bag), it was a huge change for everybody in my family to adapt to.”
Thompson underwent stoma surgery as she battles a chronic bowel condition, ulcerative colitis, which leads to parts of the gut becoming swollen and inflamed.
The reality star has faced a myriad of health issues and in 2021 she had an emergency caesarean section as her baby’s head became wedged in her pelvis during the late stages of labour.
The NHS medical team operated for three hours to stop a haemorrhage while Thompson was awake and not under general anaesthetic, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) episodes have since left her screaming in bed and paralysed.
Sara, who features in the Heartlake City Water Park set, has a scar on her stomach which sits next to her stoma bag, which is visible to toy users as she wears a bikini top and shorts.
Speaking about the character, Thompson said: “I hope that people with a stoma bag see Sara wearing like cool green shorts and a crop top, and they think, ‘Oh, my God, I can wear green shorts and a crop top, and that’s fine. I don’t always have to be in a one piece, and I don’t always have to be fully covered up head to toe.’
“I hope that it encourages people, and there is a lot more going on around this topic now, which is so positive.
“But it does encourage people to understand just what a stoma bag is and what it does, and how it can be a life-changing thing for people, and it gives them a standard of living that they wouldn’t have had before.
“But also, equally, it’s not an easy choice to make. It’s not as though it’s an accessory that people are choosing, that people are paying for, that they’re like, ‘Oh yes, please’.
“It’s not a sort of fashion accessory, but it’s something that you can hopefully wear with pride, like people do with many scars that save their lives.”
She added: “If I could prevent one person from being bullied for having this, that would be like, job done.”
