A 23-YEAR-old has been nominated for an award after she inspired millions by posing in a bikini with her colostomy bag on show.

Bethany Townsend from Bromsberrow, near Ledbury has suffered from Crohn's Disease since she was ten.

She shared a holiday snap with a charity which showed her sunbathing in a bikini with her colostomy bag on show, which then went viral around the world.

She has now been nominated in the Body Confidence Queen category in The Cosmopolitan Ultimate Women Awards.

Mrs Townsend said: "I am still in shock. I still find it weird because I am so taken aback by it. I didn't expect all this from a picture."

She was on her first holiday with her husband, Ian, 33 when he persuaded her to wear her bikini outdoors.

She said: "At first I was a bit self conscious but after five to ten minutes I was fine.

"People weren't really paying attention. Waiters asked what it was and I didn't mind.

"I would prefer people asking than staring."

It shone a much-needed spotlight on bowel disease, inspiring thousands of others to bravely share their own body-confidence photos.

The photo went viral after she sent it to the charity Crohn’s and Colitis UK and it’s now been viewed more than 12 million times.

Bethany is running out of treatment options- she is hoping to try a new drug but it it not available on the NHS.

Mrs Townsend, whose parents live in Ledbury, said: "I am losing more weight and I am tired all the time.

"I just get on with it and wear make up and do my hair and I am fine."

The awards are on December 3 at One Mayfair, London.