Football: a window into the bowels of society.

Football can be a horrible realm at times and although it is just a game it can sometimes act as a window into society. This season alone we’ve seen that racism is far from being eradicated with the treatment of Patrice Evra by a fellow professional and that being of high status will result in preferential treatment by the criminal justice system.

If nothing else, these events that occur within football show that certain things are seen as unacceptable by society. For example Luis Suarez was wholeheartedly condemned by every corner of the footballing universe and beyond (with the exception of Anfield) for abusing Evra and when university student Liam Stacey made unpleasant remarks about Fabrice Muamba during and after his horrible heart attack playing for Bolton in the FA Cup he wasn’t only condemned, he was thrown behind bars for 56 days.

When that unfortunate event happened at White Hart lane everyone in the footballing world came together in support of the Bolton midfielder and it was something that was an incredible positive that rose like a phoenix from a terrible negative.

The same can be said when Stiliyan Petrov was diagnosed with leukaemia only a few weeks later. Everyone was very supportive of him, especially the fans at Aston Villa who have held quite a few minutes of chanting support for him this season.

Both of these examples show that humans in society will come together and support individuals who are going through certain hardships. However it was incredibly disheartening to see that although he received widespread support by those in the game, Darren Fletcher was ridiculed by many when it was revealed he was suffering with the inflammatory bowel disease: Ulcerative Colitis.

Fabrice Muamba and Stiliyan Petrov have both received nothing but support and anyone who dares poke fun at them are condemned by everyone. This is obviously how it should be, I’m not saying it shouldn’t be like that, but why as a society do we say that it’s okay to poke fun at Darren Fletcher because he has an illness that affects the intestines?

Ulcerative Colitis is an incredibly painful illness that I personally can relate to considering I have the other inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s. Through my experience with the illness I can confirm that I am constantly fatigued because of it and it creates the most agonising pain I have ever experienced, nothing else has ever come remotely close to it. Ulcerative Colitis is similarly horrific as well.

Why then do we find these chronic illnesses and hardships absolutely hilarious? People wouldn’t ridicule Fabrice Muamba for having a heart attack, they don’t laugh at Gary Speed’s family, and nobody took to Twitter to post sickening jokes about Stillyan Petrov. Yet when Fletcher was pictured on Sky’s cameras sat in the crowd during Manchester United’s game against Swansea, many people decided it would be hysterical to make jokes about him and his illness whether it be in the pub or on the internet.

So many people take to their keyboard to make fun of Fletcher at every given opportunity. It’s like a horrid playground where moronic kids attempt to bring down those trying to get on with their lives while the dinner ladies aren’t looking; only in this analogy the dinner ladies don’t seem to mind either way.

I’ve noticed that there’s always one simpleton who crawls out from the bowels of Twitter when Fletcher trends, he or she goes by the name @MrJimmyCorkhll (you know, the guy who was in Brookside about a decade ago). Here’s what he or she tweeted once Fletcher was shown sat in the stands:

Now, it should be said this idiot is simply doing it for a reaction, Liam Stacey did the same. The only reason he or she posts these tweets is to get noticed, to be ‘big on Twitter’. There were some people who reacted angrily to his tweets but there were plenty of others out there who contributed to the insults and abuse with their own jokes and retweets until all the top tweets under ‘Darren Fletcher’ became abusive. Their excuse? Banter. Yes, because making fun of someone else’s agonising illness is banter isn’t it? Just like naming Ched Evan’s rape victim.

Though this ridiculing of Fletcher is quite disappointing and upsetting I’m big enough to take it and after having Crohn’s for many years I’ve heard all the jokes but I can imagine that these unsympathetic and frankly vile tweets have caused a considerable amount of distress to many who live with, or know someone who lives with IBD, especially when they’ve only just been diagnosed. Many people with IBD turn to Twitter for support and how do you think they feel when they see things like that? I try to imagine how I’d feel seeing those tweets after just being diagnosed. I probably wouldn’t have taken them well.

There are people out there going through absolute hell with either Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn’s and it’s bad enough having people around you having no idea what you’re going through without having the whole world treat your illness like an ailment you get after eating a curry the night before.

Social media can do great things, but it can also do horrendous damage especially to the youngest and most vulnerable people. When it was revealed that Fletcher has Ulcerative Colitis I thought the boost in profile for the illness would be a good thing and boost people’s understanding of IBD. But unfortunately it has not; instead it has been made quite apparent that society considers it to be one big joke that is there to be laughed at.

Being diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn’s and having to live with it is hard enough without people making fun of you while you’re at it. Imagine how a young teenager feels when being diagnosed with IBD. Amongst other things they’re scared, embarrassed, drained and going through horrible pain every day with treatment that can be equally as difficult to go through. Now imagine going through all that in the knowledge that everyone else is laughing at you – and society thinks it’s acceptable.

There really needs to be a shift in society’s mind-set, people need to grow up and be less ignorant of illnesses that affect thousands and thousands of people every single day. It really does feel as though society sees anyone who has an intestinal illness of any kind as fair game, and that just is not right. Is it any wonder Fletcher hid his illness for so long?

The only reassurance I can give to anyone who’s been affected by the clowns who make fun of IBD is that from my experience most of them are complete and utter losers. It’s the same when I saw good old @MrJimmyCorkhill pop up with his abuse on Twitter. Some people are successful in life; others run a parody account on Twitter. At least I hope it’s a parody account, it’d be terribly tragic if it was actually him!