A West Cumbrian woman who almost died before being diagnosed with Crohn's Disease wants to raise awareness of her condition.

Amy Carlton, 23, of Workington, has a stoma bag and has started an online campaign to show people they can lead a normal life with one.

The former Netherhall School pupil had been suffering from excruciating stomach pains since she fell pregnant with her one-year-old daughter Norah Pala.

Initially doctors told her she had Braxton Hicks - fake contractions. But after Norah's birth the pain continued. Despite several trips to hospital, tests and surgery to remove her gallbladder, Amy continued to suffer.

In January she went to the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven complaining about the stomach pains. She was given painkillers and was kept in overnight, with a view to discharging her the following morning.

But at 5am the pain woke her up.

Amy, who went to sixth form at Cockermouth School, said: "There are no words to describe the pain I was in. It was worse than childbirth, I couldn't breathe. I thought my appendix had ruptured because I heard a pop, I remember grabbing hold of a nurse and telling her to stay with me, that I didn't want to die alone."

When Amy was transferred to the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle she was told doctors would have to perform a key-hole surgery to see what was causing the pain.

But when she woke up she was in intensive care - five inches of her bowels had been removed, she had sepsis and a stoma bag had been installed, connecting her colon to the bag placed outside her body.

Amy said: "In the end they couldn't perform the key-hole surgery, they had to open me up and remove part of the bowel which was ruptured and heavily ulcerated and take a sample for biopsy. When the results came back I was told I had Crohn's Disease. It was a relief that finally I had a diagnosis."

Crohn's Disease is an inflammatory condition affecting the bowels. It can cause pain, severe diarrhea and fatigue.

Amy said now she has to be careful of what she eats and fatigue is what gets to her most, but she now knows the consequences could have been far worse.

She said: "When I was told I had Crohn's I remember saying to my dad the worse that could happen was that I had to have a stoma bag. Now I realise the worst thing was that I could have died. "

When Amy started posting pictures on her Instagram page about her living with a stoma bag, people started getting in touch with her to ask questions about it and she set up the dedicated account @lifetakesguts1 to raise awareness and break the stigma.

She said: "My quality of life with the stoma bag is so much better. Before, whenever I went anywhere I was very conscious I needed to make sure there was a toilet nearby. I'm not in any pain now, I just do everything normally. The bag doesn't affect me, I wear what I want, I still go out with my friends - I have a perfectly normal life.

"Having a stoma bag really isn't as bad as people make out to be. Now I've really got my life back."