My mum sacrificed it all to save my life. Now I want to do something to repay her
AT her lowest ebb, Becky Johnston was so desperately thin it was painful to sit down. Her BMI was dangerously low, to the point it was beginning to damage her organs.
Her body was essentially shutting itself down.
Since she was a teenager, Becky has battled a range of problems including depression, anxiety and body dysmorphia.
But it was anorexia that came closest to taking her life. “I was on my death bed,” said Becky, now aged 21.
“Anorexia was taking over and I was getting quite suicidal. It was unsafe to leave me alone.”
Becky, from Deane in Bolton, was first admitted to hospital for emergency treatment, in around 2014, and has been in and out ever since.
It’s been a enormous struggle, and one she continues to grapple with every day.
But Becky has no doubt who has kept her alive – her mum Jackie.
When the full extent of Becky’s illness become clear, Jackie made the selfless decision to give up work entirely and become her daughter’s sole carer.
The decision was all the braver as Jackie, 58, was in the middle of a difficult break-up from Becky’s dad.
It meant the pair of them had to move into a new home, with no friends or family to support them and very little money.
“We both became very isolated,” said Becky. “She sacrificed everything. “There’s only one unit for eating disorders in the north west and it’s in the Wirral.
“She would drive for hours every single night, just to spend half an hour with me because I was finding it so traumatic in hospital.”
In the past four years, Jackie has spent countless days pushing Becky around in a wheelchair, taking her to appointments, fighting for the treatment she needs - all while having to watch her only daughter on the brink of dying from a cruel condition.
“My mum is my motivation to stay alive – without her I wouldn’t be here,” said Becky.
“She’s amazing, she’s my inspiration.”
The pair live an isolated existence, completely dominated by