Shropshire Star

Sarah's radio play to help anorexia fight

She used to eat just a few lettuce leaves a day, literally starving herself to death as part of an obsessive diet.

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Today Sarah Harmon is overcoming her anorexia but says it is an illness that can strike at any teenager.

Now she is working to help others by highlighting her own situation.

Sarah was eating just 15 calories a day as a 16-year-old, with her weight plummeting from 10 stone to six stone in four months.

Now 21 and in recovery, Sarah, from Presteigne, has teamed up with Fixers, a charity which helps youngsters who have overcome adversity.

She said she cut everything but 100g of lettuce a day out of her diet.

"I was obsessed with counting calories and wanted to be in control of everything I was eating," she said.

"I worked out that 100g of lettuce was equal to 15 calories. I was terrified of eating more because I thought I would get fat.

"I would stand up straight and look down and if I couldn't see my feet I would get really upset."

Miss Harmon has now told of her struggle in a radio play created by Fixers, which helps young people campaign on issues that matter to them.

The play called Cara features a young girl struggling to eat as she battles with a voice in her head telling her she is fat.

Miss Harmon said: "What happened in the play relates to my own experience. I began by cutting out bread and fat from my diet, feeding the dog scraps off my plate, or hiding food in my room so mum wouldn't know I was skipping meals, but it soon escalated."

It wasn't until family and friends forced her to see a doctor that she realised she was suffering from an eating disorder.

"When I looked in the mirror I didn't see my hip bones jutting out. All I saw was rolls of fat," she said.

The eating disorder was also affecting Sarah's projects at college where she was studying to be a mechanic.

She said: "I remember trying to tighten a bolt with a wrench on a car engine, but I was so weak I couldn't even turn it.

"I was cold all the time and my body became covered in a fine down just to keep warm."

Despite being underweight, Miss Harmon's Body Mass Index didn't meet criteria for in-patient NHS treatment, so it was her mother Annette Jones, 41, who saved her life.

Miss Harmon said: "Once my mum put a chicken breast and two new potatoes in front of me. It took me four hours to eat it but she was so patient. If it wasn't for her, I don't think I'd be here today."

Mrs Jones added: "Watching her go through it was really hard – there were times when I felt helpless. When I took her to the GP he didn't seem to understand.

"Sarah would often take her dinner up to her bedroom saying she had homework to get on with.

"One day I was in her bedroom when I noticed a strange smell. I opened a container where she usually kept pens and it was stuffed full of food I'd cooked for dinner.

"I knew she needed my help and I vowed to be there for her every step of the way."

Anorexia nervosa typically inflicts teenagers aged around 16. It mainly affects girls, although there are increasing cases of boys with the disease.

Figures show the problem is on the rise, with it inflicting young people at a time when they are under pressure academically through GCSE and A levels.

People with anorexia restrict the amount of food they eat, making themselves vomit and exercising excessively. Many sufferers have a distorted image of themselves, thinking that they're fat when they're not, which makes it difficult to treat.

Fixers is a charity in which people relate their experiences in an effort to help others. More information about the charity, and Sarah's story, can be found at fixers.org.uk.

* Listen to Sarah's radio play here

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