7 Famous People with Ulcerative Colitis

Casey Abrams is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist. During his first year of college, he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. He was on American Idol and during one of the elimination episodes in season 10, he had to miss out because he was hospitalized for his disease. “When you have UC or Crohn's disease, you don't want it to define you as a person. I wanted [the show] to be all about the music. And I think it was. I don't think this is defining me as a person. I think it's a part of me, a little obstacle I have to hurdle over every day, and I think that's the way you have to look at it,” he said. Today, Casey is pursuing his passion for music and acting, all the while raising awareness of colitis and Crohn’s disease. “I'm also trying to get record deal right now. It'll be a jazzy-slash-rock sort of album. I’ll definitely want to keep up my work with the CCFA. Being in the public eye with this disease — it needs to happen, and I'll try to do this as long as possible,” he said. 

Photo: Casey Abrams 8/24/2013 #8 by Justin Higuchi