Reality TV veteran Erin Barnett is one of the 12 stars on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here and the charity she’s supporting with her stint in the jungle is one very close to her heart, or more fittingly, her reproductive system.
The 24-year-old says she chose Endometriosis Australia as she’s suffered from the condition since she was 12, but only diagnosed recently. Should she win the $100,000 prize, Barnett says she hopes it will help find a cure for the disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside it, causing debilitating pain and infertility.
“I’ve chosen also because it’s about being a battler, we call it an “Endo Warrior” so knowing that i’ll be in the jungle fighting for more money for my charity and knowing that there are women out there fighting there own battles, I’m in there for them,” she said.
The Love Island and Beauty and the Geek has previously taken to social media to share her honest experience dealing not only with endometriosis, but polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
“Just because you can’t see my insides and how bad I have PCOS & endometriosis doesn’t mean my pain can’t be validated,” she wrote. “It’s so hard for people to understand just how painful PCOS and endometriosis is.”
Barnett says she’d often be bed bound due to pain and heavy bleeding.
“My pain gets so bad. Any movement makes me feel like my ovaries are exploding. I have burn marks on my pelvic area from constantly having heat packs on me, and the sensation of the burning is more comfortable than the pain inside me so I leave it.”
Barnett also revealed that she’s recently had successful surgery to remove her left ovary and some of the endometriosis.
“I’m literally pain free as I type this. As in, no crazy ovary pain…because it’s no longer in my body!” she wrote.
“I’ve had countless surgeries for PCOS and endometriosis. I’ve been asking, begging & pleading for someone to take out my left ovary because of the pain and cyst it causes me on the daily. Sadly, as per usual; no one was listening to me! It’s my body let me do what I want with it! It is literally the most frustrating thing in the world being told what you can and cannot do with your body.”
“The more I’ve been speaking about it the more I’ve realised people have it. Some women don’t realise they have it until they’ve seen something I’ve posted,” she told 10 Daily.
She hopes that winning the competition will help spread further awareness and support the endo community.
“Wouldn’t that just be the cherry on top?” she said, “Especially coming out of such a sh*t year, to win it for them. That would be really cool.”
