If you live with Crohn's or ulcerative colitis, you know the feeling that isn't really a warning. One moment you're fine. The next, you have minutes, sometimes less, and you need a restroom now.
And then there's the second problem, the one nobody warns you about when you're diagnosed: you have to ask. Fast. Often to a stranger. Sometimes behind a "customers only" sign, a locked door, or a counter where the person doesn't speak your language.
That ask is its own kind of awful. You're already in distress, and now you're supposed to calmly explain a private medical condition to someone you've never met, hoping they say yes before it's too late.
The ask is the hard part
Most of us have a version of the same story. A café that only unlocks the restroom for paying customers. A train with one bathroom and a queue. A shop in another country where "please, it's a medical emergency" comes out as panicked gestures because you don't share a language.
You shouldn't have to recite your medical history to a barista. You just need a way to make the request instantly, clearly, and in a way the other person actually understands.
A card that speaks for you
That's what the Flarity Urgent Access card is. You hold up your phone, and it shows a short, polite, unmistakable request, in the language of the person you're asking.
URGENT ACCESS
FLARITY
I need urgent access to a restroom
I have a medical condition that requires immediate restroom access. Thank you for your understanding.
The card in English. It also speaks French, Spanish, Japanese, Hindi, German, Italian, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Arabic, and Turkish.
It carries one clear line, "I need urgent access to a restroom", and a sentence explaining that a medical condition requires immediate access. Twelve languages, including right-to-left Arabic. If the person wants to read it themselves or switch languages, the card's QR code opens a clean page that does exactly that.
Why it belongs in your phone, not your wallet
Paper "can't wait" cards exist, and they help. But they get left in your other coat. They wear out. They're printed in one language. And they're not on you in the exact moment you need them.
The Urgent Access card lives in Apple Wallet on iPhone and Google Wallet on Android, which changes everything:
- Always on you: it's on your lock screen, a tap away, no app to dig for.
- Works offline: basement restrooms and dead-signal corners don't matter; it needs no connection.
- Private: no account, and the page behind the QR collects no data about you.
- Free, always: it's a self-advocacy tool, not a subscription.
What it is, and what it isn't
Let's be honest about this, because dignity matters and so does accuracy. The Urgent Access card is a communication aid. It is not a government-issued document, it does not confer a legal right of access, and it can't guarantee that someone says yes.
What it does is remove the friction from the ask: it makes your request fast, clear, and understood, so the moment depends on human decency instead of your ability to explain yourself under pressure. In my experience, that's most of the battle.
How to get your card
It's free inside the Flarity app, and you don't need an account. Start there:
Download Flarity
Free on the App Store and Google Play. No account required.
Open Urgent Access
Pick the languages you want the card to speak.
Add to your wallet
One tap adds it to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, ready on your lock screen before you need it.
Curious what the card looks like? Preview it, and try switching languages, at getflarity.com/access.
Flarity is an IBD wellness app: it helps you track symptoms, spot patterns, and walk into appointments with real data. The Urgent Access card is one small part of that, but if it makes even one of those moments a little less frightening, it's doing its job.
Get your Urgent Access card
Free in the Flarity app. No account needed, add it to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet in seconds.
