That’s why the 18-year-old chose it as a way to give back now that she’s in remission.
Carrigan and her mother, Tracey Fraser, are organizing a fundraiser for the Crohn’s and Colitis Association of Canada on Feb. 8.
“It was a natural fit for you,” Fraser said to Carrigan about the concert during an interview at their Stellarton home.
Carrigan started feeling sick when she was 11.
She was plagued with stomach pains to the point where she couldn’t make it to school.
She would lay in bed, unable to stand some days.
After going to many doctors and hearing several explanations such as anxiety, indigestions, ulcers and a milk allergy, she was finally diagnosed when she was 12.
“I was scared. I didn’t know what it was,” she said about finding out that it was Crohn’s.
She also felt a sense of relief as she could now start to treat it.
Crohn’s disease is a lifelong illness, which inflames the bowel, causing abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, cramping, nausea, weight loss and a lack of energy.
Carrigan began with feeding tubes exclusively for four months.
The tubes were uncomfortable at first, but Carrigan got used to them.
She said it was embarrassing at the beginning, but a good support system of friends helped her get over that.
At school, she said teachers even took it as an opportunity to educate students on the illness.
She played basketball, travelled and went to summer camp while on the tubes.
Coming off them wasn’t as easy. She would snap back to the pain she felt before.
She tried many medications, until after three years, she found one that was successful.
She started Remicade infusions in 2013.
As a Grade 12 student at Northumberland Regional High School she has been able to get on with her life and hopes to go to Saint Francis Xavier University to study education.
Now that she’s feeling better, she just wants to help others that are diagnosed.
“It’s a scary thing for kids and their families,” Fraser said.
Fraser said she’s heard from a few parents that have children with the illness since Carrigan’s diagnosis.
What helped them through it was talking to others that have gone through the disease.
Carrigan said there are helpful videos online and that it’s important to remember that it will get better.
“Do what the doctor says,” she added as another piece of advice.
Carrigan will be singing and playing guitar at the musical fundraiser on Feb. 8 along with The Gospel Four, Don Haggart & Luke Langille, Brian and Brenda Bowden, as well as a number of others.
It takes place at the 1st Presbyterian Church Hall in Stellarton at 7 p.m.
Donations will be accepted at the door.
On Twitter: @NGNewsAmanda