Pooing in a toilet that's not in your own home is embarrassing at the best of times but one poor girl experienced everyone's ultimate fear on a recent shopping trip with her mum. Emma Bryant has taken to Facebook to share the hellish situation her 13-year-old daughter found herself in at the hands of a White Stuff branch at the weekend.
Her teenager daughter lives with a condition called ulcerative colitis which means the colon and rectum become inflamed due to ulcers developing. Symptoms include recurring diarrhoea, abdominal pain and the frequent urge to empty your bowels - for that reason she carries a 'Can't Wait' card which allows holders 'access to toilets without embarrassment or confusion’.
But the 13 year old was left feeling mortified after the White Stuff staff at the Southampton West Quay store refused to allow her to use their staff toilet, despite having shown her 'Can't Wait' card, signalling it was an emergency. Writing on Facebook, Emma recalled the tale: "They refused as they said they had stock out the back and suggested she used the nearest public toilets."
Unfortunately, the nearest public toilets at John Lewis were too far away for the youngster and she didn't make it in time. Her mother added: "Sadly and very embarrassingly she had an accident as she couldn't hold on. She was beyond mortified, as anyone would be, especially as she was only just building up her confidence with going out to public places." Bryant said the incident has been a huge knock to her confidence, understandably.
Since the post was shared on Sunday, it's racked up over 8K reactions and in excess of 2K reactions. It's also prompted more than 2000 people to comment - some with their own similar stories and others heaping support on the 13 year old with many calling for White Stuff to send her a written apology and vouchers.
In a statement released to soFeminine, White Stuff said: "We would like to say how sorry we are for what happened to Emma’s daughter and the embarrassment she must have experienced. We strive to be a welcoming and personable retailer and apologise that on this occasion we let one of our customer’s down.
"We spoke to Emma the following day and apologised for the upset caused. We have also been in contact with Crohn’s and Colitis UK to discuss thorough training for all of our shop staff. A training document is being collated on invisible disability and medical cards to educate our teams and ensure this does not happen again. In addition, we have also made a donation to the organisation."
Do you suffer from a similar condition? Have you ever been refused access to a toilet in public? Let us know @soFeminineUK
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