Fighting in honour of our beloved Sami Lou

Here we find ourselves, one year on since our angel grew her wings. A devastating situation that broke a lot of hearts and touched a lot of people.

We were showered with kindness when the news broke out that Sami sadly lost her battle to an eating disorder, at the age of 28. Many of her friends and family wished to make a donation instead of flowers, which we decided we would put towards raising awareness surrounding eating disorders. This small act of kindness has led us to where we are now. It has taken us some time to be in the right headspace, but we now are ready to share our story and fight for change...

Sami was diagnosed with Crohn's, an inflammatory bowel disease at the age of 7. She had periods of being very unwell, underwent surgery twice and had to adapt her lifestyle to manage what some call 'a hidden disease'. She has always been a fighter, and determined to not let her illness hold her back from her dreams. She was passionate about achieving her goals and never let things get in her way. She worked on Carnival Cruises for a while, where she got to travel all over the Caribbean. She was studying as a Veterinary Nurse and had a passion for horse riding.

Sami's health started deteriorating early 2017, with numerous hospital admissions resulting in her being admitted to a London hospital the end of 2017 in an extremely critical condition. This is where our battle began through the extremely muddy waters of, what was diagnosed 2 years later, as Anorexia Nervosa. 2 YEARS of a girl who used to live her life to the full, living in and out of a critical condition. 2 YEARS of us not knowing what the hell to do, where to turn or how to fix her. 2 YEARS of constant confusion between symptoms being hidden by her Crohn's and experts discharging her as her Crohns was 'fine'.

After the family pushing, chasing referrals time & time again, and searching down every avenue possible, in late 2019 Sami finally got a referral to an NHS eating disorder clinic and was diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa. Unfortunately, and in contradiction to everything we experienced, the KEY to eating disorder recovery is early intervention. When a case as extreme as Sami's is as bad as it was, it is extremely difficult to reverse the damage that has been done, both physically & mentally.

We truly believe that for so long Sami didn't even know she had an eating disorder. It is a psychological illness. Mix that with someone who already has a health condition and you are in very difficult territory.

Eating disorders do not discriminate. They do not only attack weak & vulnerable people. They can creep up on anyone. Mental health is at its worse, with eating disorders having the highest mortality rate, yet they are still not being spoken about enough. Qualified health professionals are STILL missing crucial signs, families are not aware of symptoms to look out for in their children, teachers are not guided on how to spot and react. In a world where social media puts so much pressure on body image and perception, this needs to change.

That is why we have chosen SEED as our nominated charity. We feel honoured to have the opportunity to support the founders of the charity. They are extremely passionate about what they do and what they want to achieve.

SEED are an eating disorder support service. Part of their service is providing Educational Toolkits to schools. They are user-friendly resources packed with video-driven lessons and supporting materials, including lesson plans and worksheets.

Amongst other things, SEED were due to update the toolkit, with an addition of a lesson covering medical risk. Unfortunately, they have recently received a large funding cut which has put a huge amount of pressure on them.

Following a meeting with Marg & Gemma, they have decided that they would like to push through and roll out the additional lesson on Medical Risk to teachers/parents/carers in Sami's honour.

This is huge! We are so proud and determined to make this happen.

We will be working with them, using our experience to share knowledge and help others. But we need the funding to back us!

To be able to cover the cost of re-filming the toolkit and to get the resources in place that is needed, we have a goal of £6,000 that we need to reach.

The importance of raising awareness and identifying those risks can literally save a life. The toolkit is currently in around 100 schools already, with the scope to get this is every school across the country!

Thanks to last years support we have already raised £3,210, so are already halfway there. We can do this!

Much Love

Sami's Family xxxxxx