A journalism student has opened up on his battle with Crohn’s disease in a bid to raise awareness of the condition.

Kris Gourlay was hospitalised by the condition and had to be given an intravenous infusion of Infliximab, a drug designed to combat the disease, every eight weeks for two hours.

Kris, pictured, was in his first year of university at Edinburgh Napier University when he began experiencing symptoms he initially thought might be food poisoning.

However, after experiencing extreme fatigue over the summer of 2017 he was eventually admitted to hospital for two weeks.

Kris told Glasgow-based daily The Herald: “Various tests were done but when I was told it was Crohn’s disease, I had no idea what that even was. I remember asking the doctor ‘is that bad?’

“It’s only now that I realise the number of people it affects and the scale of the damage.”

Kris’s symptoms have been in remission since last year and he is currently drug-free, although he has to limit alcohol, dairy, and spicy foods.

He is now participating in one of Edinburgh University’s Crohn’s clinical trials to help research into the condition.

Kris added: “Everybody just wants to find a cure for this disease.”