Jessica Logan

I’m the founder of http://www.makingtheinvisiblevisible.org.uk, which aims to raise awareness of invisible illnesses and disabilities, while supporting and empowering those who live with one.

The cause started back in 2019 by bringing hidden struggles of people living with invisible disabilities and chronic conditions to life via detailed images. One example of what the images show is barbed wire is wrapped around the stomach to represent abdominal pain which could link to endometriosis or a bowel condition.

65% of the population are visual learners, but all the public sees is ‘not every disability is visible.’ I feel more needs to be done to help others understand what this truly means and in turn this will stop the discrimination many of us receive for using disabled toilets, disabled parking spaces, needing adjustments or even cancelling plans.

These images were adapted into posters, which have been used by many of my supporters. These images are also printed onto merchandise for awareness and other products have been created for empowerment.

My favourite product is currently the fully inclusive Goddess ornaments I sell. These are fully customised to represent a person’s body. They can choose from 6 body shapes or a bear and add scars, skin conditions, medical devices, stretch marks, mastectomies and much more. All items sold online are made by small businesses and I donate 100% of the net profits to charity, which has raised £550 to date. (view more online)

I run empowerment photo shoots, create a yearly awareness calendar, run the Warrior Charity Pageant and even take part in pageants myself. I plan to expand my cause further by going into schools and workplaces to run education sessions, write a book, and I also interview others about their experiences.

All of my projects focus on invisible illnesses and disabilities so that more people understand and support people like myself who live with one. This year I am running 12 empowerment photo shoots across the UK, which will be launched into an awareness and charity calendar for 2023. I plan to arrange the global shoots in the foreseeable future once everything is set in place for those in the UK.

In February 2020, I launched the first empowerment photo shoot to help others overcome the negativity they experience and feel because of their illness or disability. Each person wore a black outfit and wrote words on their skin to represent their symptoms, feelings and even remarks they’ve received such as ‘you don’t look sick’ or ‘lazy.’

It was a great tool to raise awareness of their hidden struggles with the words bringing them to life and it helped people feel understood and gain confidence.

A breast cancer survivor with a single mastectomy who participated in the shoots said “I have overcome my fears and have been just in my underwear, baring my scars in a room full of people. I can honestly say I’m happy with me….my body….and how I look. I may not be perfect, but I am me.”

Another lady said, “We stood together proud to show how no matter what we face, we are strong powerful women and saying thank you doesn’t seem enough. My illness has made me feel so isolated and lonely but today has changed that. You’ve given me my spark back by making me feel normal again.”

COVID canceled future plans for the shoots, but with the power and support of social media over, 70 people got involved from home and a COVID safe photo shoot took place in Kent. Ant Bradshaw from Style and Story International Pageant Photography edited the individual images into group photos, which were then used to create a 2021 awareness calendar. Around 170 copies sold in the UK and internationally, which raised £500 for the 10 different charities supported by the cause. As the calendar was successful and COVID restrictions had eased, I managed to organise 4 photo shoots within the UK whilst others took part from home. Through these photo shoots, the 2022 version of the calendar was created and raised £500 for charity and sold approximately 160 copies, making the total raised from calendar sales at £1000.

This year’s photo shoots will focus on the positive impact people with invisible illnesses have on others so that those involved can see their true worth. The daily struggles of people with invisible illnesses are something we can be oblivious to due to past discrimination. Additionally, struggles of people with invisible illnesses may often times be overshadowed by high beauty standards and a lack of representation of ‘real’ bodies in the media and beauty industry.

I started taking part in pageants back in 2019 to use its powerful platform in the beauty industry to create change, to push myself out of my comfort zone and to feel accepted. There is a stigma that people win pageants only because of good looks, but I think the truth is far from that, and that this is an extremely outdated view as they represent everyone as beautiful. A person with confidence, who is approachable and supportive of others, has worked hard on their performance and has made a positive impact in their community, for charity or with their platform, can do well in pageants.
It’s vital that pageant judges crown someone who is going to be a good representative of their system. Most competitions involve an interview similar to a job interview so they can see if you are right for that role. In these pageants, its not just beauty that counts, but character. I’ve seen first hand and experienced the diversity they provide and that’s why so many people grow from them.

Honestly, I never expected pageants to become a huge part of my life because I’m quite boyish and love comfort over style. However, I absolutely fell in love with the community and the buzz you get on stage. Hearing those cheers for MY body while walking on that stage with MY scars and flaws on show made me feel on top of the world. I also enjoyed getting glammed up. What girl doesn’t?

There has been a transformation in my confidence, and although I still have a way to go, I’m proud of how much I’ve grown. Since I began taking pageantry seriously, I have placed top three in all of my competitions, walked away with charity titles, awards and friends for life. I now can’t imagine my life without pageantry. It has helped me focus on being the best version of myself, which is what I’ll continue to do in my journey.

I know there is a title out there waiting for me and I really do hope it’s the Mrs Diamond UK Title. I believe the pageantry system celebrates the beauty and diversity of every woman and I’d be honoured to represent them in America. One day I’d love to be someone’s role model for anyone who faces challenges in life, and it would be amazing to leave a legacy behind. I may experience additional challenges than my peers who don’t live with illnesses and disabilities but these will not define me. I make it my mission to create change for others.

Although I was new to pageants, I decided to create my own pageant for those who live with an invisible illness or disability. This launched at the end of 2019 with the aim to raise awareness, have fun, empower others and to feel understood and equal to their peers. It was also important that all of the money raised was donated to charities that support those of us living with an invisible illness or disability.

The first live event was due to take place in March 2020 but the event was canceled due to COVID. It was my priority to keep everyone as safe as possible so the event was canceled a total of 3 times. Despite a year and a half delay, the first live finals took place in October last year and it was a huge success. The event raised over £1500 for charity and helped build confidence in those that took part or attended.

This year’s live finals is on 17th September, and has almost 40 contestants signed up. It’s such a phenomenal feeling seeing everyone grow and create friendships with others that can empathise with them. These projects are extremely close to my heart as I live with a number of hidden illnesses myself so I understand how challenging it can be both mentally and physically on people like me.

In 2017, just after my 25th birthday, I was suddenly fighting for my life in hospital. My symptoms only began 2-3 months prior but they rapidly progressed to the point I was screaming out in pain, having accidents and seeing the toilet full of blood up to 30 times a day.

I knew something wasn’t right but I was still waiting for a scope to diagnose me. Despite my calprotectin being 2044 when my symptoms first began (normal marker 0-50), I was medically gaslighted by my gastroenterologist. Calprotectin is a form of protein that shows in your stool which links to inflammation. A healthy person’s inflammation level in the digestive system will show as 0-50 but 2044 is extremely raised and was concerning. Despite how much myself and my doctors pushed, our requests for an urgent procedure were declined.

I received my official diagnosis of acute severe ulcerative colitis in hospital (a form of inflammatory bowel disease) and despite the best efforts of the IBD team, it was too late to save my colon. My bowel was close to perforating and medication wasn’t improving my symptoms so it was decided I needed emergency stoma surgery in the same week as my diagnosis.

I was in complete shock, but also angry with the GI doctor that gaslighted me. I felt butchered by him and it took me years to overcome this trauma. I still look back and wonder how different things could be now but that won’t change things. I have to move on and accept what we have now – after all I survived.

My journey was extremely rocky. I need 4 major bowel operations in a year and suffered with post op complications including sepsis. My body was constantly fighting and this trauma has unfortunately triggered chronic fatigue syndrome, which is what limits my life the most today. There are days I can’t get out of bed or even wake up and this has impacted not only my mental health, but also other aspects of my life.

I’m happily married but feel like a burden on my husband. He’s had to accept so much responsibility since I became unwell. Unfortunately I had to give up my career in 2018 and we are unsure whether I will ever be well enough to raise our own children. This is the hardest part to accept and I now grieve what my life once was and the dreams I may never achieve.

My toughest demons were fought within the first six months of my emergency stoma surgery, which made me suicidal. I struggled to accept the changes to my body and felt alone. There was no one shown in the media that looked like me and it made me doubt my worth. I’m glad I overcame this battle and it’s why I want to help others find self love and acceptance because we aren’t alone and we are worthy. Creating my projects and awareness merchandise has given me back a purpose in my life. Although I still fight my physical and mental demons, I keep going because I know I’m making a difference to others and that’s worth the fight.

More needs to be done in terms of the media and the beauty industry to be more inclusive of diverse kinds of bodies to avoid impacting the self image of future generations in a negative way and to help everyone see themselves as worthy. More also needs to be done to create lasting change by paving the way and breaking the mold for the media to be more representative of real people and real bodies. This is extremely important to reduce low self esteem and much more. True representation is needed to help those struggling with body confidence and to break down these unrealistic beauty standards for our future generations.

One ‘perfect’ body does NOT exist because we are all PERFECT in our own unique way. There is still a long way to go to end the stigma for the disabled. If someone is asked what disabled looks like, they may say someone in a wheelchair or with a walking aid. Too many people are afraid to say they are disabled, because people assume it means ‘unable,’ when in fact many people can still live a relatively ‘normal’ life, but they just face restrictions or limits.

I feel education is the key to helping others understand hidden illnesses and disabilities. With more understanding, fewer people will be afraid to go out in public, afraid to label themselves as disabled, and fewer people will be harassed, bullied and discriminated against – and MORE people will be happy. With your support we make a difference!