This Morning regular Jordon Cox has shared the harrowing details of his long-term battle with Crohn's disease, describing periods of being left 'unable to walk' and in 'crippling pain'. The 28-year-old, famed as the show's 'Coupon King', spoke candidly with hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary about his diagnosis and the severe health crisis that followed.
A Diagnosis After Years of Struggle
Jordon explained that he was first diagnosed with the chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) at the age of 17, after suffering with severe stomach cramps throughout his teenage years. The condition took a firm hold following a serious bout of food poisoning from which he 'never got better'. After battling to convince doctors, a colonoscopy finally revealed the Crohn's disease.
Reflecting on the moment of diagnosis, he told the ITV daytime show: 'When you're diagnosed with any disease, it's quite a lonely thing. Most of the time, you don't know what it is and don't know anyone else with it. So, you're given this diagnosis bombshell, and then you're like, "What now? Where do we go from here?"'
Rapid Decline and Life-Saving Intervention
His health deteriorated drastically in 2018, when he was 20 years old. Jordon's bowel stopped absorbing nutrients, leading to severe diarrhoea, blood in his stool, and drastic weight loss. He revealed his weight plummeted to just six stone and ten pounds, leaving him 'skin and bone'.
'I don't want to say it, but I was probably a few months away from my body giving up completely,' he admitted. Doctors told him he needed surgery to remove a damaged section of bowel, but he was too weak to survive the operation.
To build his strength, he was put on Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN), being fed intravenously through a line in his arm or neck for 24 hours a day. 'When I was at my worst, I could barely walk from my bedroom to the bathroom. I'd be out of breath. That's no way for a 20-year-old to live,' Jordon recounted.
Surgery and Recovery
After a subsequent sepsis infection, Jordon finally underwent the crucial surgery. Surgeons removed 30 centimetres of diseased bowel and fitted him with a temporary ileostomy bag – a procedure he says 'gave him his life back'.
'After I had that surgery, it was back to normal. Since then, I've been living a more normal life,' he said, confirming he has since had the stoma bag removed. He also shared a poignant memory from hospital: nurses allowing him a sponge dipped in tea to taste flavour for the first time in weeks, which he called his 'favourite day'.
Jordon has previously discussed managing his condition, revealing that even while hospitalised in 2018, he channelled his energy into deal-finding, making £1,000 from his hospital bed. His story highlights the ongoing challenges of living with Crohn's, a condition with no cure, which causes inflammation of the digestive tract.
