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| George Alagiah's 'guilt' over disabled toilet use | George Alagiah's 'guilt' over disabled toilet use |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| George Alagiah has spoken of his guilt at having to use disabled toilets while having no visible disability. | George Alagiah has spoken of his guilt at having to use disabled toilets while having no visible disability. |
| The BBC newsreader, who has stage four bowel cancer, used the facilities in the past because of having a stoma bag attached to his stomach. | The BBC newsreader, who has stage four bowel cancer, used the facilities in the past because of having a stoma bag attached to his stomach. |
| When disabled people saw him using the toilets he would feel the need to "apologise or explain", he said. | When disabled people saw him using the toilets he would feel the need to "apologise or explain", he said. |
| Talking about living with the bag for the first time, Alagiah said it also required him to get his suits altered. | Talking about living with the bag for the first time, Alagiah said it also required him to get his suits altered. |
| A stoma is an opening in the stomach where faeces are collected in a bag after part or all of the bowel is removed due to a disease or obstruction. | A stoma is an opening in the stomach where faeces are collected in a bag after part or all of the bowel is removed due to a disease or obstruction. |
| Alagiah, 63, returned to presenting duties in January this year after his bowel cancer returned in December 2017. | Alagiah, 63, returned to presenting duties in January this year after his bowel cancer returned in December 2017. |
| He no longer has a stoma bag after undergoing reversal treatment. | He no longer has a stoma bag after undergoing reversal treatment. |
| 'Apologise and explain' | 'Apologise and explain' |
| Speaking about living with a stoma on In Conversation With George Alagiah: A Bowel Cancer UK Podcast, he said: "I used to find it difficult. I had a stoma but I didn't look disabled, and I would be turning the key in a disabled loo in a motorway service station or something. | Speaking about living with a stoma on In Conversation With George Alagiah: A Bowel Cancer UK Podcast, he said: "I used to find it difficult. I had a stoma but I didn't look disabled, and I would be turning the key in a disabled loo in a motorway service station or something. |
| "And if there was a queue and somebody obviously disabled (was there), I used to feel guilty and feel like I needed to apologise and explain. | "And if there was a queue and somebody obviously disabled (was there), I used to feel guilty and feel like I needed to apologise and explain. |
| "The reason you need to go into a disabled loo is that you just need a little bit of space, to get the contents of your blue bag out and the sanitising equipment and so on." | "The reason you need to go into a disabled loo is that you just need a little bit of space, to get the contents of your blue bag out and the sanitising equipment and so on." |
| The charity Crohn's & Colitis UK has launched a campaign calling for companies to install new signs on disabled toilets to explain that not all disabilities are visible. | The charity Crohn's & Colitis UK has launched a campaign calling for companies to install new signs on disabled toilets to explain that not all disabilities are visible. |
| It says people with such "invisible disabilities" are subjected to discrimination for using facilities they urgently need. | It says people with such "invisible disabilities" are subjected to discrimination for using facilities they urgently need. |
| In 2017, Tottenham Hotspur became the first football club to feature such a slogan on their disabled toilets. | In 2017, Tottenham Hotspur became the first football club to feature such a slogan on their disabled toilets. |
| Alagiah also spoke of adjusting his clothes and changing his outfits to fit the bag, which included taking his suits out and wearing braces. | Alagiah also spoke of adjusting his clothes and changing his outfits to fit the bag, which included taking his suits out and wearing braces. |
| Speaking about his concerns over returning to work with the bag, he said: "I [was] always looking around at my colleagues and thinking, 'Can they smell anything, can they hear anything?"' | |
| The BBC journalist hosts the first series of Bowel Cancer UK's podcasts, interviewing supporters and leading experts on the disease, as well as discussing his own treatment and diagnosis. | The BBC journalist hosts the first series of Bowel Cancer UK's podcasts, interviewing supporters and leading experts on the disease, as well as discussing his own treatment and diagnosis. |
| Bowel cancer is the UK's fourth most common cancer and second biggest killer cancer with more than 16,000 people dying from the disease every year. | Bowel cancer is the UK's fourth most common cancer and second biggest killer cancer with more than 16,000 people dying from the disease every year. |
| It is treatable and can be curable, especially if diagnosed early. | It is treatable and can be curable, especially if diagnosed early. |