Feature / H A Y L E Y R E P T O N
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finding a
EW TUNE
ON LIFE
Hayley Repton shares with Coeliac Link why MAKING A FILM encouraging coeliacs to FIND their INNER VOICE followed her own PERSONAL JOURNEY. WAS
diagnosed with coeliac disease in April 2019. The day I was told, I felt like I had been slapped around the face with a wet fish. Fortunately for me, I didn’t have many of the typical symptoms, but it was found by chance through another blood test, which led to the endoscopy and biopsy to confirm it.
18 | Autumn 2021 Coeliac Link
I just knew I had to put the diagnosis to good use and raise as much awareness as possible. Within a couple of weeks, I started to draft ideas and I began writing the short film ‘Glutened’. After the diagnosis, I had followed a lot of coeliac support groups on social media and many of the coeliac members were posting about the anxiety around social events. It was clear that some coeliacs were surrounded by people who don’t take
the autoimmune disease seriously or think that its ok to take ‘cheat days!’ Oh no, no, no! That was a major driver for me to make the film, with the aim of giving these misunderstood people a stronger voice. I wanted to make sure that I portrayed a large proportion of their stories through the one character. That was really important to me. I believe that sometimes getting a point or emotion across to someone verbally, doesn’t necessarily have the same impact as showing them
