'I had four days left to live': Lib Dem deputy leader discusses experience of Crohn's disease

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper has shared her experiences of Crohn's disease as she revealed she was once told she had "just four days left to live."

The St Albans MP addressed the party's annual conference in Brighton on Monday, telling fellow party members she was rushed to hospital 12 years ago.

Ms Cooper said: "A few weeks in, I was told that without major surgery I had just four days left to live. My weight had dropped to around seven stone, my eyesight was failing."

She told delegates that her arms went "black and blue" and recalled how she "sobbed" as she faced the prospect of having to give up work.

She recounted telling herself: "Even if you survive Daisy, even if you recover, you’ll probably never work again. Your Crohn’s disease is so aggressive, at most you might be able to work one day a week."

Ms Cooper, who is originally from Bury St Edmunds, told the conference that she was advised she would probably need further surgeries and was handed an information pack about what benefits she may be entitled to.

She told the conference: "“I sobbed and I sobbed and I sobbed for 17 hours straight. It felt like my world had fallen apart.

"As a campaigner, I have always found my meaning and purpose in my work.

"As is the case with so many millions of people, the NHS didn’t just save my life, the people who make our NHS what it is gave me my life back."

Finishing her speech, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats addressed Health Secretary Wes Streeting, saying: "Take up our ideas or put forward your own, and if we support them, we’ll back them.

"But if we do not see the right level of ambition or urgency, we will hold your feet to the fire."

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