A woman with a rare medical condition who hit the headlines last month says it is "surreal" after being nominated for an award.

Evan Francis, from Minster, on Sheppey, is unable to urinate and said she was denied access by staff to a disabled toilet in Greggs.

Now, she is thrilled to have been put forward for the 2025 National Diversity Awards.

Founded in 2012, the event helps shine a light on unsung heroes, promote positive role models and empower community organisations across the country.

There are 15 categories, including Entrepreneur of Excellence, Diverse Company and Celebrity of the Year.

Evan has been entered into the Positive Role Model Award for disability, which recognises an “individual within the community who shows selflessness, drives change and works tirelessly to inspire others”.

The 29-year-old has Fowler’s Syndrome – a urethral sphincter condition that affects as few as two in a million women per year.

At the beginning of last year, she experienced recurring urinary tract infections (UTIs) and doctors had initially attributed this to stress after she was made redundant and went through a break-up.

She was eventually diagnosed in July and has since been surgically fitted with a suprapubic catheter to her lower abdomen, which has to be changed every eight to 10 weeks.

This has left her vulnerable to further infections – with Evan spending 96 hours in A&E during last year alone.

Her rare condition has had a dramatic effect on her self-esteem, dating life and mental health.

Evan hit national headlines in April when she called out Greggs after she was told she could not use the loo at the Sheerness branch.

“I asked to use the disabled toilet and the assistant said to me ‘you’re not disabled, though’,” she recalled.

“And so I said ‘how do you know that?’ I decided to just get the bag out and say ‘does this make me disabled?'”

The bakery chain has issued a formal apology.

“I didn't imagine that it would be picked up by so many different papers,” Evan told KentOnline.

“It's amazing just how many people have reached out to me who have had similar experiences. We shouldn't be putting anybody in that position where they're having to justify themselves.

“I certainly shouldn't have had to lift my trouser leg to show a bag of my own urine.”

As well as being the founder of PR company Short Stuff Communications, Evan has gone on to campaign for better catheter care and deliver educational workshops for GPs and nurses.

She added: “I'm usually the one nominating a company but for somebody out there to have done that for me feels quite surreal and amazing.

“If you'd had told me a year ago that losing the ability to urinate would make me award-nominated and land various newspaper coverage, I'd probably have fainted.

“I'd love to win. I feel that as a woman living with a catheter, I'm a rarity.

“It's only when I've started doing the outreach that I've realized that this is a much bigger issue.”

“I look at my fellow Fowler patients and we all have had very similar experiences.

“It's only when I've started doing the outreach that I've realised that this is a much bigger issue.”

So far there have been more than 30,000 nominations and votes for the awards.

If you’d like to support Evan, please click here.

You have until Wednesday, May 14, and by July the shortlist will be announced.

The awards will take place at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral in St James’ Mount on Friday, September 19.