Sara Levitt proudly carries her story of survival and self-love whenever she walks down the runway or poses for the camera.
The 30-year-old model has been smashing stigmas in recent years, being an advocate for Crohn’s disease and ostomy.
“I like long walks on the runway while taking a poop in my bag,” she often says while looking at her circumstances with a touch of humor.
Sara Levitt has been smashing stigmas in recent years, being an advocate for Crohn’s disease and ostomy
The barrier-breaking model has appeared in magazines, walked New York Fashion Week, and is now a 2025 delegate for Miss Universe Canada.
All this, she did with a pouch attached to her abdomen to collect bodily waste.
“My entire disease revolves around poop and fecal matter which already has its own stigma, and now I have an ostomy, a bag of poop on me, 24/7,” she told People.
The Montréal-born model was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis [a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) the causes inflammation of the colon and rectum] at the age of three.
By age 11, her condition progressed to Crohn’s Disease, a chronic disease that inflames and irritates one’s digestive tract. The painful disease can result in chronic diarrhea, loss of appetite and weight, blood in stool, and more.
Sara was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, which progressed to Crohn’s Disease by age 11
For two years after her Crohn’s Disease diagnosis, Sara was constantly walking in and out of hospitals. She was fed through a nasal tube, suffered immense pain, and had to be pulled out of school.
“I had developed a very strong character at a very young age, an armor of shield, in order to carry me throughout that journey,” she told the outlet.
She recalled spending a number of nights alone in the hospital, at the age of 11 and 12, staring out of the window and wondering, “why me?”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Sara Levitt | The Bag Bish | Creator & Model (@saralevs)
Sara underwent an emergency surgery at the age of 13 to have part of her bowel removed, leaving her with a permanent ostomy bag outside of her body.
The life-saving ostomy procedure allows stool to pass through a surgically created stoma on the abdomen and move into the pouch or ostomy bag.
The model admitted she “never wanted an ostomy.”
Her younger self never dreamed of being a model with an ostomy bag attached to her abdomen.
The ostomy procedure allows stool to pass through a surgically created stoma on the abdomen into a pouch
“Obviously I feared a lot of what ostomy life would look like … ,” she said. “People are going to think I’m disgusting, that I smell, that I’m gross. That I have this bag of poop on me.”
“I’m never going to be seen as beautiful, desirable. I’m never going to fit into beauty standards. No guy is going to want to date me,” she continued. “How am I going to tell new friends? It was literally just fear.”
As time passed, Sara’s ostomy bag allowed her to do things other people her age would do, like bathe, shower, swim, and even have an active romantic life.
But wearing bikinis or low-waisted pants was still something she avoided for a long time.
“People are going to think I’m disgusting, that I smell, that I’m gross. That I have this bag of poop on me,” Sara said about her initial fears
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Sara Levitt | The Bag Bish | Creator & Model (@saralevs)
Apart from the very sight of the bag on her abdomen, Sara also worried about the crinkling, chip-bag-like sounds it made.
“I feared the sounds that my ostomy would make, because sometimes, you know, they could be a symphony, an orchestra, and you can’t necessarily control it when you’re going p**…it happens,” she said.
Sara went on a family vacation to Cuba in 2019 and forced herself to pack nothing but bikinis. But she instinctively covered the ostomy bag with her arm while she was at the beach.
Nevertheless, the trip helped her be more comfortable with the ostomy bag, and she started being more open to conversations about it with others.
The Montréal-born model became more confident when she forced herself to pack only bikinis when she traveled to Cuba
In the summer of 2023, she found herself in Cuba once again. And this time, it was a solo trip.
With only bikinis in her luggage, Sara not only posed for pictures that included her bag in the frame but even began sharing them on social media.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Sara Levitt | The Bag Bish | Creator & Model (@saralevs)
As she recalled her thoughts during the life-changing trip, she said she wanted to share her story with the world.
“I have nothing to hide and I want to just be able to be myself,” she said.
Sara was finally ready to be her authentic self after hiding her ostomy bag—which she named “Liv” (Swedish for “life”)—for so many years.
“I look at myself, and I’m like, wow, I see strength. I see beauty,” she continued. “I’m no longer just looking at the bag and feeling like the bag defines me and defines my level of beauty standard.”
The content creator with 43.9K Instagram followers has learned to ignore hate comments online
The budding model said sharing her story made her realize she wasn’t alone. And she has also learned to look past hate comments like “TMI” or “no man will want you.”
Sara is also grateful for the chance to work with brands that stand for representation within the fashion industry.
“Having somebody like Sara being able to share her story and show that you can have a kind of big, full life with an ostomy can make a big difference in reducing the stigma associated potentially with getting an ostomy,” Kaitlyn McQuaid, coordinator of support programs at Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, told CTV News last year about Sara’s advocacy.
Many netizens were touched by Sara’s story and found the courage to share their own experiences
