On August 19th my brother and I will be taking part in the Tough Mudder south west to raise money for Beat, the UK’s leading eating disorders charity, which provides a surplus of information and support for sufferers, those around them, and healthcare professionals. 

I developed anorexia nervosa aged 14, was severely malnourished with deranged blood tests and poor organ function, and was subsequently admitted to a specialist inpatient unit for the best part of a year for emergency weight restoration. Eating disorders are mental illnesses typically depicted as the vain, fitness and diet obsessed teenage girl which is misconstrued, glamourised and propagated throughout the media. The reality is that Anorexia nervosa turns your life upside down and takes all of the good, colourful things out of it; your health, relationships, education, experiences, and replaces them with a starving, terrifying grey world isolated from reality, obsessed with calorie counting, body dysmorphia, shame, fear and guilt. I missed years of school, but undertook my lessons and all of my GCSE exams at the in-hospital school, and was later too unwell to undertake A-levels, which to this date has massively impacted the way I’ve had to train to pursue a career in the nursing/medical field. Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders, and in 2015, anorexia also took away the kind and beautiful Steff, aged 18. With extensive hard work, amazing support from friends and family and intensive healthcare input throughout my teenage years, I was lucky enough to recover and live a life in which anorexia does not have room to manifest. However, not all of those with eating disorders get that opportunity, and with the NHS increasingly inundated, understaffed and overworked, the work of charities like Beat in supporting families, sufferers and professionals with regards to eating disorders is invaluable. I will be running this in memory of Steff. If you are kind enough to want to donate, no amount is too small, thank you all so much!