For two weeks Josephine Frenkel had to live with the knowledge that her youngest daughter might die. She had collapsed and been rushed into a hospital intensive care unit, as a result of living with a serious eating disorder for some time.
Ms Frenkel said: “It was an extremely stressful time not knowing what the next phone call was going to be. When you don’t have this illness it’s so difficult to understand - even for the parents. You can't understand why people would deny themselves the basics to live. It causes emotions, sometimes anger.
“You think to yourself, ‘get a grip and just eat’ but that doesn’t work. I’ve been at that point, but of course they can’t just do that - it’s an illness. You grieve during the process because you see what it’s doing to them, emotionally and physically.” You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
READ NEXT: 'My six-year-old son has been in hospital 15 times in four years with severe asthma'
It was during the 2020 Covid pandemic when Ms Frenkel's daughter fell ill. The 71-year-old mum from Swansea has since turned to art as creative therapy and will this week open her first art exhibition to raise awareness for better eating disorders provision in Wales having witnessed her daughter's battle with anorexia nervosa.
She said she was told for two weeks that her daughter wouldn’t pull through. However, after three months in hospital and despite the odds against her, she miraculously survived.
But more family trauma was to follow for Ms Frenkel. During the same year her other daughter was rushed into hospital for a different reason and ended up in a coma. For three weeks she was again told she would not pull through, however, Ms Frenkel believes that, because of the prayers of many from her church, her miraculous recovery began. Within three weeks, and to the utter amazement of the doctors, she was eating, talking and even able to walk out of hospital.
Ms Frenkel said she had always been a creative person - having been a photographer - and used art as a form of therapy during her particularly difficult year. She said: ”At that time, I came across a guy on YouTube painting a bottle and I thought to myself, I can do that. So I painted that bottle and that’s how my journey with art started, which was only two years ago. It was therapy for me where I could switch off from the reality of what was going on."
Ms Frenkel explained that her studio was built in March last year, she started her "profit for purpose" company in January and she was due to open an art exhibition on Wednesday, August 24. She said: "I really do believe that it was God pushing me on as the journey from painting a bottle to opening an art exhibition has been so short."
After experiencing life-changing events, and with many health scares herself, Ms Frenkel decided that she wanted to give something back to the community, with the hope of raising awareness about eating disorders, after she and her children were given a second chance at life. After she started painting she experimented with resin art and enjoyed painting more and more. She then moved on to painting coasters and canvases, which she said were appreciated by her community.
“I have everything I need in life and I want to use my art to help people. I wanted to give back, so when people told me that they wanted to buy my art, I knew I wanted to donate my money to a cause,” she said.
“This is where my vision with helping make more facilities for eating disorders comes from because I’ve walked with my daughter for quite a while with her illness. I know here in Swansea and Wales - which is not the fault of the people who work and run the eating disorder team, it’s lack of funds for space and facility - there’s not enough provisions here. Instead, if they need to go away to a facility for three to six months, it’s in England or Scotland, which many feel is like a punishment to them rather than help.”
She claimed: “Everybody who has an eating disorder in Wales is being sent away, which is incredibly stressful for anyone going through it, also for the family who have to travel for hours and hours. It was really difficult for us when my daughter was away in a facility in England - being taken away from their family doesn’t help at all. I don’t drive so for us to go visit, we had to rely on other people or take public transport which would end up being an eight hour round trip.”
Ms Frenkel also claimed that out of the 12 patients who were at her daughter’s facility, eight were from Wales. She added: “It shows that there is a problem here and more funding needs to be in place.” Ms Frenkel wanted to make it clear that she had "nothing but respect for the Swansea eating disorder team, they are tremendous at what they do.”
Ms Frenkel said the eating disorder team, who helped and supported her daughter, did not have their own building. So, her vision is to have a place in Swansea with consultation rooms, therapy rooms, an art room, a chill-out room and a kitchen. She described it as “somewhere they can feel safe and also get help.” She hoped the art exhibition sales and future donations would allow her to make her vision a reality.
Ms Frenkel's first art exhibition and sale will be at her studio, which was built with donations from her church. You can visit the art exhibition on Wednesday, August 24, between 7pm and 10pm, at Koinonia Studio, Y Fforwm, Island Road, Swansea, SA1 8EW. There will be over 40 pieces up for grabs, with her coasters costing £25 for four and her paintings between £85 and £2,000. All money raised from the sale will be put towards creating her vision of better eating disorder provisions in Swansea and Wales.
A Welsh Government spokesperson, said: “We are increasing investment in eating disorders services, including an additional £2.5 million from 2022/23. Most people who need to access services, including in-patient care, will receive this care in Wales and we are also working with NHS Wales to scope the feasibility of a specialist eating disorder unit in Wales. We expect all health boards to provide specialist, multi-disciplinary support for people with eating disorders.”
Tom Quinn, director of external affairs for eating disorders charity, Beat, said: “From the people we support, we know that having to access eating disorder treatment miles away from home can be incredibly isolating and distressing. For instance, friends and family often aren't able to visit regularly, which can make recovery more difficult for the person who is unwell and make the transition back to ‘normal’ life following the conclusion of inpatient care more challenging, as well as increase anxiety for family members about their loved one's wellbeing.
“There are no adult inpatient eating disorder services in Wales, so anybody who is aged 18 or over and needs hospital treatment for their eating disorder must access care outside of the country. The earlier somebody is able to receive quality treatment in their local area, the higher their chances of making a full recovery from their eating disorder, and the less likely they are to require hospital treatment. If many people across the nation are having to be hospitalised for their eating disorder, then this suggests that people are not getting the treatment they need quickly enough in their local area.
“At the start of this year, Beat investigated the improvements made to eating disorder treatment in Wales since the Eating Disorder Services Review in 2018. We found that whilst some progress had been made, the quality of services is still a postcode lottery, meaning not every person in Wales with an eating disorder is able to access quality support.
“The Welsh Government must take action to support the estimated 58,000 people in Wales with an eating disorder. This should include committing to a plan with timescales for improving eating disorder services, and holding health boards to account over their investment in eating disorder services. The Government must also involve experts by experience and loved ones at every stage of the process and appoint a permanent National Clinical Lead for Eating Disorders, to ensure that the voices of those impacted by these serious mental illnesses are heard.”
READ NEXT:
- Mum told 'go to A&E in England' due to three-year wait for surgery in Wales
A desperately-ill toddler was driven 150 miles to Cardiff from England for treatment
Victims of 'worst treatment disaster in NHS history' to receive £100,000 each in compensation
'I've been forced into poverty and had to use foodbanks because I'm waiting for NHS treatment'
Dad suffers 'catastrophic' injuries after falling off a trampoline
