When Kelly Appleton's weight dropped to just 5st 5lb when she was 20, she was given a warning from doctors and an emergency hospital referral. It came not long after she'd finally opened up to her family after years of undereating and overexercising.
She was eating just 42 calories a day - at the same time as doing exercise - and was told that her "body was dying". Now, she has spoken about her struggles with anorexia in the hope of helping others.
Now, aged 24, Kelly is in a much healthier place, both physically and mentally. Her own experiences have led her to reflect and now she is at university studying to become an education mental health practitioner for children and young people.
She shared her story during Eating Disorders Awareness Week, which ran until March 5. Kelly said she wanted other to know they were not alone and there was help out there.
Kelly told LancsLive: “The doctors said my body was dying, I was basically running on adrenaline."
She continued: “Anorexia is not necessarily about food. It’s a way of controlling a life you feel you don’t have control over. I’ve always had a rocky relationship with food and the way I look.
"I always saw myself as the ‘big friend’ even though I wasn’t. Growing up was difficult for me. There was no-one promoting body positivity on social media then, it was all about losing weight.”
Moving away from her hometown of Bolton to go to university was a difficult change for “home bird” Kelly and her health deteriorated - her need to take control in a life she found overwhelming resulted in drastic weight loss and in her third year anorexia really took hold. As a newly qualified teacher, Kelly realised how extreme her condition had become when she started making herself sick and began running laps round her classroom at the end of the day to burn more calories.
Kelly’s boyfriend, Lewis Wright, begged her to open up to her parents, Mick Appleton and Sharon Leeson, which she eventually did, but by the time she received medical intervention her body was already starting to shut down. Soon after that, the country went into lockdown as the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Kelly knew that being confined to a ward with no opportunity to see family would not aid her recovery, so she went home with her parents, still working remotely as a teacher.
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“I was able to have a lot of bed rest and the support of my parents while I went through what they call re-feeding to get my weight up," she said. “Now I still have tough days, but I’m doing really well.
"It will always be there, but I know my triggers now, I’m talking about how I’m feeling and I’ve found my support systems. I went into teaching because I love working with kids and after my experience I’ve decided I want to work specifically in the area of mental health.
"I just want to support young people and their families. I had anxiety and depression when I was younger and I can’t help but wonder if things might have been different for me if I’d had early intervention with those problems.”
Lynsey Roocroft, senior lecturer and programme lead for education mental health practitioners at Edge Hill University in Lancashire, where Kelly is studying, said: “Kelly’s ability to speak confidently about her experiences and why they had led her to this role was inspirational. She has continued to demonstrate this within the classroom and to share her personal experiences in front of 42 other students is something they have all valued, especially as we consider how we are going to work together to support the mental health and wellbeing of young people.”
Kelly is now an advocate for UK eating disorder charity Beat, after drawing comfort from their positive presence on social media during her recovery. “I want to be that voice for other people who are struggling, or those who want to support a family member," she said. "We need to remove the stigma around eating disorders and the assumption that they only affect teenage girls. There’s just not enough knowledge out there about it.”
Kelly hosted a fundraising coffee morning at the weekend. To support Kelly in her fundraising for Beat, donate here.
