Alnwick mum aims to be first English Channel stoma swimmer

Gill Castle says she wants people not to be ashamed of their colostomy bags

When former police officer Gill Castle gave birth to her son in October 2011, her joy was accompanied with life-changing injuries. Now she is hoping to become the first person with a stoma to swim solo across the English Channel.

Despite what the doctors told her, Gill knew there was something seriously wrong.

Her son Sam had been born prematurely via a forceps delivery several days before and the harrowing procedure resulted in a major perineal tear.

Medics initially told her the injury wasn't too bad - a second degree tear - but then re-diagnosed and repaired it as a more serious third degree.

Gil Castle's son Sam was born in October 2011

But two days later the pain was increasing and she realised she was incontinent.

"I did tell the midwives I was in more and more pain, and every time I went to the toilet I was pulling the emergency buzzer but I was told there was nothing wrong," she recalls some 12 years later.

Then she collapsed in a corridor, only to be told by a male midwife the pain "might just be her perception of it".

Sam was born prematurely via a forceps delivery

Further examination revealed she had actually suffered a fourth degree tear that had caused irreparable damage.

Two weeks after the birth, she left hospital with a baby boy and a stoma, a hole in her abdomen through which her bowel had been diverted to a bag to catch the waste.

• The Stoma Swimmer is available now on BBC Sounds

Her first few weeks at home were an "unremitting hell", says Gill, now aged 43 and living in Alnwick, Northumberland.

Her commercial diver husband Chris was away with work and she was living in West Yorkshire, away from her family in north-east England.

"The stoma bag leaked all the time, I couldn't sit down for about six months, I had countless infections and was in and out of hospital," she says.

"I also had lots of appointments with work and with my solicitor, all the time with a little baby. It's really hard to describe how difficult that time was."

She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, severe anxiety and depression.

The NHS finally settled out of court in 2014 for the damage caused during childbirth and the failings in her care.

By then she had already been medically pensioned out of West Yorkshire Police.

Gill says adapting after her surgery was a challenge

Losing the job she loved was the "hardest thing", she says, adding: "It was the only job I'd ever wanted. It was exciting, I felt like I was doing something worthwhile and then suddenly it was all gone."

About 30,000 women in the UK experience traumatic births every year according to the Birth Trauma Association (BTA).

Of those, it is estimated about 16,000 will suffer third or fourth degree tears which can lead to lifelong incontinence, pain and, in rare cases like Gill's, a stoma.

"Obviously most women will give birth without trauma", says BTA chief executive Kim Thomas. "But it's important women and health professionals know it can happen, so that it can be diagnosed quickly and something can be done about it.

"The problem in Gill's case is that it was all far too late".

Gill made a sign to explain what she was doing and why

Three years after Sam's birth, Gill read an article by a triathlete with a stoma and had a "lightbulb moment" when she realised the woman's colostomy was still enabling her to live an active life.

From that moment on she decided to see what she could do.

She joined Alnwick Triathlon club, did the Three Peaks Challenge and completed a half ironman which involved swimming 1.2 miles, cycling 56 miles and running a half marathon.

She set up a charity, Chameleon Buddies, to support women in the UK and abroad who have had childbirth injuries, and raised £40,000 for that and the BTA through her various challenges, which also included scuba and sky diving.

Gill has raised more than £40,000 for charities through challenges such as skydiving

In October 2020, she started taking a dip at her local beach wearing nothing but a bikini every day throughout winter.

"I really wanted to grab people's attention," she says, adding beach walkers would read the sign she made explaining her condition and what she was doing.

"I got women who got very emotional and just said 'thank you'," she says.

But her biggest challenge came when a friend asked her if she had ever considered swimming the English Channel.

She hopes to attempt the English Channel later in August

Her first reaction was "absolutely not", but after thinking about it she realised it would be a "fantastic way to raise awareness of women injured in childbirth and that you can do anything with a stoma".

Gill's efforts have impressed Stafford MP Theo Clarke, who has launched an all-party parliamentary group to focus on the issue of birth trauma.

"Gill's story really stuck out to me," Ms Clarke, who described being left "traumatised" by the birth of her daughter.

"The fact that she had been a police officer and had lost her job, but also her unbelievable attitude.

"She doesn't let anything stand in the way of what she wants to do."

Gill Castle has taken on a number of activities and challenges

Gill secured a place to swim the Channel three years ago and has been training ever since, spending up to 12 hours a week in her local pool and the sea and completing a six-hour night swim off the Dover coast.

She hopes to attempt the solo swim later in August.

Gill will have to swim at least 21 miles

A support boat will accompany her but no-one is allowed to touch her and she will be fed hourly via a pole.

Gill will have to swim at least 21 miles but with the currents and tides it could be much more, perhaps being in the water for more than 20 hours coping with big waves and high winds.

She has got some high-profile support from artist Tracey Emin, who had a stoma after bladder cancer.

Gill has been training for three years

The pair now chat regularly on social media.

"If you swim one mile, if you swim 200m, if you swim the whole thing, you've done it 1,000 times in your head and you've done what was important and you've helped many other people," the artist said in a message to Gill.

Because she's the first person in the world to swim the Channel with a stoma she has no idea what is going to happen and whether the swim might cause it to become infected.

But Gill says she's "ready to go", adding: "I want to bring attention to woman injured in childbirth, I want to raise money for my charity, but ultimately the one person I'm swimming for is my son.

"I want him to know that none of this is his fault and that his mum is a bit of a kickass, and she hasn't let this stop her from achieving amazing things."

Gill says she wants to swim for her son Sam