I jumped 60ft to end the agony of anorexia but I’m so lucky to live I’ll help save others
SUICIDAL TEEN HAS 21 OPS. . .
disorder was uncovered.
She was given weekly cognitive behavioural therapy and weighins to track her weight, which fell to just 7st.
But as well as spurning food she hit the gym several times a day, making her even thinner and isolating her from her parents, who we have agreed not to name. She says: “It felt like I wasn’t underweight enough to get the proper care I needed.
“I’d been suffering anorexia and depression for two years when I developed anxiety. It all got too much to cope with and I wanted it all to end.”
Becky spent eight weeks in hospital, mostly bedbound.
She recalls: “It was very lonely. I wasn’t always well enough to have visitors and when I was visiting hours were limited.
“The nurses became my best friends. Sometimes their shifts had finished but they would sit with me for hours until my painkillers kicked in or I fell asleep. They were angels.
“Seeing how nurses can make all the difference to a child’s life on the ward was eye-opening.
“Hospitals are frightening places for children and when you couple that with pain or feeling unwell and being apart from your family, the nurses’ role becomes even more important.” Though Becky has now recovered enough to train as a paediatric nursing student, she has lasting reminders of her ordeal. Repairs to her jaw, which was fractured in two places, have altered her face and her right foot is fixed, making skating and dancing difficult. Becky says: