​​How an Olympic runner found relief from fecal incontinence​

​​Krishna Stanton’s story of bowel control challenges and treatment with InterStim™ therapy​

​​The patient featured in this story was compensated by Medtronic.

​As a former Australian Olympian and Commonwealth Games marathon silver medalist, Krishna Stanton knew endurance. She knew how to keep going when her legs were tired. She knew how to trust her body over long distances.

​Still, nothing in her athletic career prepared her for the quiet, daily worry of living with bowel control problems. For years, the condition affected nearly every part of her life. Eventually, it took her away from running, one of the places where she felt most like herself.

​“So much of my life was taken away because of my incontinence,” she said. “I was not the person you see today. I had lost confidence, was living with anxiety, and felt embarrassed.”

​Fecal incontinence and bowel control problems can affect daily life, but treatments like sacral neuromodulation may help some patients like Stanton regain control.  

Watch the full YouTube video here

​Who is Krishna Stanton?

​Stanton is a 60-year-old athlete, educator, mother, and long-distance runner living in Brisbane. She speaks with warmth and humor, but also with honesty about the health challenges that changed how she moved through the world.

​Running entered her life at age 10, when she realized that even if she was not the best at other sports, she could keep running when others stopped. That ability became part of her identity.

​Her elite running career took shape when she moved to Canberra to attend teachers’ college and earned a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport. She went on to compete for Australia at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona in the 3,000-meter race. Later, she found another level of success in the marathon, winning the Sydney Marathon in 2001 and earning a silver medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

​“Once an Olympian, I’m told, always an Olympian,” she said. “Now that I’m a lot older and still trying to run, I probably feel I did not treasure it as much back then as I do now.”

​Running was never just competition. For Stanton, it was a place to think, reset, and be alone with her thoughts. It helped her feel strong, steady, and fully herself — until her health challenges, which did not arrive all at once, made it feel out of reach.

​During her early running years, she had recurring injuries, including stress fractures, and needed iron injections. Later, she learned she had celiac disease, an autoimmune condition that can affect how the body absorbs nutrients. The diagnosis helped explain why her body had struggled for so long.

​Then, childbirth-related complications added another layer to her health challenges. Over time, these issues led to severe bowel dysfunction and fecal incontinence. 

InterStim™ patient Krishna Stanton talks about the impact fecal incontinence had on her life.

​What is bowel incontinence?

​Bowel incontinence, also known as fecal incontinence, is the loss of normal control over bowel movements.¹ A person may experience unexpected leaks or need to use the bathroom very frequently. Some people experience a combination of these symptoms.

​For Stanton, those symptoms quickly became part of daily life. At the time, she was working as a primary school teacher. Even getting through the school day became a challenge. She had to leave her classroom unexpectedly, and a teacher next door would step in when needed. Places that had once felt ordinary became sources of stress and calculation.

​“I joke about it, but I know where every bathroom is on every running or walking path in Brisbane,” she said.

​Stanton’s experience also points to a broader reality: bowel control problems can affect far more than physical health. They can reshape work, movement, confidence, and daily routines.²

​What causes bowel incontinence?

​Bowel control problems may occur when communication between the bowel and the brain breaks down.^3,4 For some people, symptoms continue over time. In those cases, additional treatment options that target the sacral nerves involved in normal bowel function may be available.

​For Stanton, bowel dysfunction affected much more than physical health. It disrupted work, exercise, travel, and confidence in daily life.² She understands why people may stay quiet, which is why she now encourages others like her to speak honestly.

​“For those people suffering in silence, don’t be afraid to be an advocate for yourself, to speak out.” she said.  

​How Stanton found a treatment option for bowel incontinence

​For a long time, she had spoken with many doctors and still had not found the right path forward. That willingness to keep asking questions — and to speak more openly about how much the condition was affecting her life — became an important part of what changed her own path.

​Thanks to a friend’s advice, Stanton found new hope. A friend who was a nurse told her about nerve stimulation therapy. She brought Stanton a brochure and encouraged her to ask her colorectal surgeon whether it might help.

​After speaking with her physician, she learned about InterStim™ therapy from Medtronic, a treatment that gave her hope.

Patient Krishna Stanton shares more about the moment she learned about sacral neuromodulation from a friend.

​What is sacral neuromodulation treatment for fecal incontinence? 

​Sacral neuromodulation (SNM) uses mild electrical stimulation of the sacral nerves and directly targets the nerves that control the bowel, helping to restore the bowel-brain communication pathway and improve bowel function.^3,4 InterStim™ system is one form of sacral neuromodulation that may help some people with fecal incontinence.^5,6   

​For Stanton, that possibility became personal. To find out whether the therapy could help, she first completed a trial with an external nerve stimulator. The trial gave her the chance to experience the therapy before deciding to move ahead with a long-term implant.

​“I did notice immediately that there were some sensations that helped me realize when I needed to go to the bathroom,” she said.

​Stanton received her first implanted device in 2007. Later, she transitioned to InterStim X™ therapy, a newer sacral neuromodulation system from Medtronic.

​Her experience was not only in terms of technology, but also in terms of support. She remembers the Medtronic staff checking in before, during, and after treatment. Also, follow-up calls, help with settings, and the feeling that people were working with her to make the therapy fit her life.

​“Still to this day, I appreciate the Medtronic staff and the team who were with me along the journey. I didn’t feel like just a number.”  

​Stanton said the support made her feel cared for throughout the process. Over time, that care — together with the therapy itself — helped her begin to regain control and confidence.

Patient Krishna Stanton says sacral neuromodulation has given her a "new lease on life."

​Improved bowel control for one patient with InterStim™ therapy

​After treatment, Stanton said her life changed and that she is “back to Krish”. She could work with more confidence. She could be social again. She could travel. She no longer felt the same constant anxiety or had to plan every movement around the nearest bathroom.

​After roughly a decade away from running because of her health issues, she returned to the sport she loved. She also regained something even more important: confidence.

​In 2022, Stanton ran the London Marathon and set a world record for her age group with a time of 2:48:11. It was a remarkable achievement, but for her it represented something greater — reclaiming movement, identity, and possibility.

​Ready for the next race

​Today, Stanton continues to train and has spoken openly about what the therapy has meant to her. She wants others living with bowel control problems or incontinence to know that there may be options, and that asking questions can matter.

​“No one wants to talk about it,” she said. “So many people do not realize what options are available, or how much a device like this can change someone’s life.”

​Stanton knows her story is not a promise that every patient will have the same experience, because every person’s condition, care pathway, and outcome is different. But she hopes her story can help others feel less alone and more willing to start a conversation with a healthcare professional. For people living with bowel or bladder control symptoms, that conversation may be the first step toward understanding what treatment options are available.

​Important Safety information

​Medtronic Bowel Control Therapy delivered by the InterStim™ system treats chronic fecal incontinence (an accident or leaking involving stool).  It should be used after you have tried other treatments such as medications and dietary modifications and they have not worked, or if you are not a candidate for them.

​You must demonstrate an appropriate response to the evaluation to be a candidate. You cannot have diathermy (deep heat treatment from electromagnetic energy) if you have an InterStim™ device.

​Safety and effectiveness have not been established for pregnancy and delivery; patients under the age of 18; or for patients with progressive, systemic neurological diseases.

​In addition to risks related to surgery, complications can include pain at the implant sites, new pain, infection, lead (thin wire) movement/migration, device problems, interactions with certain other devices or diagnostic equipment such as MRI, undesirable changes in urinary or bowel function, and uncomfortable stimulation (sometimes described as a jolting or shocking feeling).

​This therapy is not for everyone. This treatment is prescribed by your doctor. Please talk to your doctor to decide whether this therapy is right for you. Your doctor should discuss all potential benefits and risks with you. Although many patients may benefit from the use of this treatment, results may vary. For further information, please call Medtronic at 1-800-328-0810 and/or consult Medtronic’s website at www.medtronic.com.

​USA Rx Only. Rev 0517

1. Bordeianou LG, Thorsen AJ, Keller DS, et al. The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons' clinical practice guidelines for the management of fecal incontinence. Dis Colon Rectum. 2023;66(5):647-661.
2. Moureau MK, Jones LM, Schmuhl NB, Brown HW. Men and women experience
3. different barriers to care seeking for fecal incontinence. Neurourol Urodyn. 2023;1-8.
4. Lundby L, Moeller A, Buntzen S, et al. Relief of fecal incontinence by sacral nerve stimulation linked to focal brain activation. Dis Colon Rectum. 2011;54(3):318-323.
5. Janssen PTJ, Komen N, Melenhorst J, et al. Sacral neuromodulation for fecal incontinence: a review of the central mechanisms of action. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2017;51(8):669-676.
6. Medtronic InterStim Clinical Summary 2018.
7. Hull T, Giese C, Wexner SD, et al. Long-term durability of sacral nerve stimulation therapy for chronic fecal incontinence. Dis Colon Rectum. 2013;56(2):234-245.

Published Oct. 1, 2026