'It's so important': Louise Thompson praises Lego figure with stoma bag

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 Lego figure 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.

The former Made In Chelsea star, who herself 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.

“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.”

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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.

“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.”

The reality star has faced a myriad of health issues and previously spoke to ITV News about the traumatic birth of her son which left her with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Speaking about the Lego 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.’

“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."

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