At times in life, one may get so worried focusing only on correcting a particular problem which later ends up causing more harm than good. Today we'll look into what happened to an 18 years old girl known as Ellie Spofforth which not only changed her physical appearance but almost cost her her life.
Ellie Spofforth, currently 18 years old almost lost her life to anorexia. How did it start? It was back then when she was still in primary school, she was often targeted by bullies because of her weight. This made her so worried about her weight that she later found herself struggling with anorexia.
"When I was in primary school the other girls started commenting on my appearance, telling me I was the biggest in the class.
"I became aware of my body and that's when my struggle with my weight began."
"I would spend my days feeling awful about myself. I had been a happy little girl but as soon as I started focusing on the way I looked I became miserable."- Ellie Spofforth
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Anorexia is an eating disorder that affects our eating habits and our mental health, anorexia will make you think you're fat and make you worried about your weight even when you're extremely skinny. Anorexia can lead to depression, suicide, and death by starvation is something isn't done.
"I wanted to change my appearance and started restricting my diet at the age of twelve."- Ellie Spofforth
At the age of 12, Ellie began vomiting what she ate and she finds herself eating only a tiny fraction of meal in a day.
"I went vegan to cut things out of my diet and ended up cutting more foods out until I was only eating one very small meal a day."- Ellie Spofforth
At the age of 16, Ellie was still struggling with anorexia, she vomits almost everything she ate and she hid the truth from her parents. She also spends time walking up to 30 thousand steps a day.
"I was still eating but the struggle would come after mealtimes. I would escape to the bathroom and bring up everything I had just eaten."
"My illness was incredibly sneaky and I managed to vomit without my parents ever finding out. I would go to the bathroom and turn on the taps so they wouldn't hear me."-Ellie Spofforth
Ellie would often put on huge clothes to hide her condition from her parents, at a point her condition was discovered by a doctor and she was detained in a mental act far from her home in Dundee where she spent a year.
"I was in a very dark place and was diagnosed with depression and anorexia nervosa."
Ellie said her experience in the mental health act only made her struggle worst, and her eating disorder improved.
"I picked up so many unhelpful habits in the unit, such as self-harm and head banging, and was still able to vomit after meals."
"I was an ill person surrounded by ill people and found it very distressing and traumatic. I was placed on constant bedrest for two months, and then had to use a wheelchair for six months."
"It made my eating disorder stronger because I wasn't allowed to exercise at all. I had no freedom at all and was extremely bored most of the time."
"Being away from family and friends was really difficult. I missed my loved ones dearly and was three-hundred miles away from them."- Ellie Spofforth
Ellie was released last year, and she still hid her struggles from her family and she could have lost her life if not for her mum. At a point she could see her hair falling off, her organs were gradually failing.
"When I was released, I was worse than ever and went home with even more bad habits"
"My hair started falling out from a lack of nutrients and my arms grew fuzzy hairs to try and keep me warm."
"My body was trying to protect me because it knew I was in danger. I was walking thirty-thousand steps a day even though I had no energy and was constantly exhausted."- Ellie Spofforth
Fearing she may lose her life, she finally summoned the boldness to write a note of confessing to her mother, she wrote a note explaining how she had been hiding her eating disorder.
"My weight was down to four stone and I truly thought I wasn't going to wake up if I went to sleep.
"One day, I wrote out a note to my mother explaining how much I was struggling and what my true weight was and how I had hidden it from her."
"I promised myself that if I woke up the next day, I'd give it to her. Luckily, I did wake up and I handed her the note and watched as she cried."
"She arranged for me to be detained under the mental health act again and I was flown back to the Dundee unit."- Ellie Spofforth
Ellie was in a critical state when she was rushed back to the Dundee unit, she had to use a wheelchair for 6 months and she was closely supervised by a nurse.
In May 2020, she finally turned 18 and she was transferred to an eating disorder specialist unit in Aberdeen. The staff in Aberdeen were well trained in handling cases of an eating disorder like that of Ellie, they had to keep her bathroom locked so she won't vomit after meals. Her stay in Aberdeen helped her focus and she gradually gained recovery.
"It was a turning point for me and I wasn't able to get away with my behaviours anymore that I'd been relying on."
"I knew that enough was enough and I needed to commit to recovery. I worked hard every day following a meal plan of three meals and three snacks, and after six months I was allowed to leave the unit."- Ellie Spofforth
After years of battling with anorexia, Ellie now lives with her parents and she is gradually recovery. She now shares photos of her recent looks on her Instagram and she's improving quickly. She now eats three times a day and her weight which once dropped to four stones is now improving.
"Recovery has brought back my true happiness. My eating disorder tried to make me regret telling my mother what was going on, but if I hadn't then I would have died."
"The hardest part was letting go of my behaviours and my need for control. But my whole family was affected by my illness and seeing them proud of me and so much happier makes it all worth it."
"Now, I'm taking each day as it comes and focusing on getting fully healthy."- Ellie Spofforth
Below are photos of Ellie who's now recovering from her battle with anorexia.
Ellie also revealed that music is one thing that has helped her in her recovery so far and shes now on a mission to look fully healthy. Ellie also uses her story to inspire others who are struggling with anorexia, the battle of overcoming such a strong disorder only takes the grace of God.