Help us help our friend Lisa

If 6,000 people donate just €10 each, we can get Lisa the help she needs.

 

We have set up this GoFundMe page to raise money for our close friend Lisa. She has been suffering with an eating disorder for over 10 years and has been struggling to get the support she needs to live her life free from an illness that so many of us can relate to – either through our own experiences or by seeing friends or family members going through it.

 

Lisa is one of the bubbliest and friendliest people you could ever meet. People take an instant liking to her. She could walk into a room of strangers and get along with any type of person. She instantly puts people at ease with her ability to relate to others and make them laugh – her personality is infectious. We feel very lucky to call her our friend. She has brought so much joy, laughter and happiness to our lives.

 

It is hard to believe the same happy-go-lucky girl has been suffering for so long. As she doesn’t have health insurance (this is a pre-existing condition), she has tried over the past number of years to get appropriate care. However, due to underinvestment in public mental health services, particularly eating disorder services, she has not been able to access the type of care that she needs, and that her GP and other health practitioners agree is required.

 

In March of this year, Lisa attempted suicide after losing all hope of the possibility of recovering. Although the people closest to her knew she had an eating disorder, we didn’t know how severe it was. That was until a family member posted an anonymous account of a typical day in her life online, in hopes that it would lead to her securing a bed in an inpatient eating disorder facility (click here to read this document. Trigger Warning: some content might be upsetting to readers).

 

After several newspaper articles and radio interviews (see links at the bottom), as well as a number of TDs raising her case in the Dáil, she still has not been able to access appropriate treatment.

 

We recently went away for a few days with Lisa. It was just three of us in a small hotel room, spending pretty much 24/7 together, so we witnessed first-hand what her life is like. It was shocking and very upsetting to witness and at one point we genuinely thought she was dead. This was the catalyst for finally going public in an effort to get her the support she desperately needs.

 

The best possible chance for Lisa to recover from her illness and live a normal life, free of the pain she has been living with for so long, is inpatient treatment. It is the only option left to her. We have been assured by a residential treatment facility that as soon as we raise the funds, Lisa will secure a place on a 12-week inpatient eating disorder programme. This funding will be used to pay for the treatment facility which is €60k for 12 weeks. Any additional funding will be used for aftercare element of this programme.

 

We also ask that you share this Go Fund Me page as much as possible to increase the chances of reaching the target. Please help in any way that you can, no matter how small the donation - it all counts.

 

Louise, Shelley, Aisling, Saul, Claire, Ali and Laura (Cork & Dublin, Ireland)