A FORMER anorexic whose weight plummeted to less than THREE STONE has finally beaten the disorder that nearly killed her.
Emma O’Neil, 22, was so thin that her doctor admitted she was the worst case of anorexia he had ever seen.
Emma spent her teenage years going in and out of hospital where it took up to four nurses to hold her down and force feed her.
But it was only after she got so weak she collapsed while crossing a road – narrowly escaping being hit by a car – that she started her long journey to recovery.
Now, eight years on, Emma, from Glasgow, is back to full health and has even set up a foundation with two friends to help anorexics and their families cope with the condition.
She said: “I didn’t realise how ill I was. My doctor said I was the best anorexic he’d seen in his career – but I thought that was something to be proud of.
“I was so thin, I couldn’t sleep on a normal hospital bed. My bones jutted out like razor blades and I was left bruised.
“They had to wrap me in my dressing gown and sheepskin blankets.
“Some of the friends I met in hospital who weren’t as ill as I was have died. I’m lucky to be here.”
Emma was a sporty teenager, and weighed a healthy 7st when she first developed the eating disorder in her early teens.
Within six months, she weighed just over 5st and was admitted to Gartnavel Hospital.
Over the years, anorexia continued to ravage her body – taking her down to a skeletal
2st 12lbs.
She said: “I can’t even really remember how it started.
“I have an addictive personality and I remember trying to see how thin I could get.
“One day, my mum caught me making myself sick and she was so upset, I felt awful. I thought of her as this superwoman and seeing her cry shocked me.
“She said she couldn’t watch me eat if that was what I was going to do, so I just decided not to eat at all.”
As Emma’s weight plummeted, she was taken out of school and into hospital.
But she battled against doctors, pulling out feeding drips and refusing to eat.
It was only after she had been in hospital for two years that a turning point came, when she was almost run over.
She said: “I had been allowed out for a day visit with my dad, who took me shopping in Glasgow city centre.
“In one shop I was so weak he had to carry me up the stairs.
“When we left, we went to cross the road, but halfway over, I saw all these cars rushing towards me. I tried to run across to the other side but just collapsed. I didn’t have enough muscle to run.
“It was only then that I thought: ‘Maybe I’m not so well.’ It wasn’t like a magic switch suddenly turned on though. It was still a long and difficult journey. Anorexia was a prison that I couldn’t escape from.
“I could see the effect it was having on my parents and I didn’t know how to help them. But I thought, ‘I can’t lose my family, they mean everything to me.’
“As I put weight on, all I saw was this monster. It was the most disgusting feeling I have had in my life.
“Only in this last year have I been at semi-peace with myself. I realise the most important things are having a baby, having a career and having a healthy body to carry me through life.”
Emma set up The Only Way is Up Foundation earlier this year with friends Catherine Morran and Susan Parker, both former anorexics.
She said: “We want to go into hospitals and help staff and families support people who are suffering with eating disorders. Some doctors just dismiss people with eating disorders as attention-seekers.
“That’s absolutely not the case and we want to help people get better treatment.
“We also want to provide somewhere for sufferers and their families to turn to for help and someone to talk to.
“I’m sure if a service like this had existed when I was in hospital, it would have been a great help for my parents.”
To find out more about the foundation, visit: www.theonlywayisupfoundation.com
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