To save jayda life

Donation protected

TW: discussion of eating disorders, self harm and mental health.

- Viewer discretion is advised.

This is my cousin Jayda, she is my cousin whom my family unfortunately no longer recognise. Jayda has struggled with disordered eating now for over 4 years. She has been diagnosed with severe anorexia nervosa, bulimia and a number of other mental health issues. This post isn’t too seek out sympathy but instead to spread awareness, expose the health crisis linked to eating disorders in Australia and to say that I did all I could to help otherwise I fear the next thing I will be writing in my notes will be her eulogy.

Anorexia is characterised by a distorted body image, with an unwarranted fear of being overweight. At a young age jayda was bullied for her weight, she was built bigger then other kids and relied on food to cope emotionally with other issues at home. Jayda was a healthy happy normal kid, the bullying growing up lead her to become very self cautious, leading her to restrict her eating as a sense of control in her teenage years.

Jayda is almost 18 years old, anorexia has taken over her life, it has robbed her of her youth, years in which she will never get back. Instead Jayda has spend the past few years living in hospital beds, celebrating things such as Christmas and her 17th birthday in hospital. She hasn’t completed a year of schooling since year 7 and she hasn’t experienced normal things for a person of her age such as getting her drivers license or first job.

Growing up jayda was not only my cousin but my best friend. My cousin is now on her death bed and my family fears we may loose jayda to this debilitating mental illness.

This mental illness has caused her too loose teeth and hair. Her bones are so brittle causing osteoporosis and her body has become disfigured. She is the weight of a 7 year old, her organs are shutting down, she hasn’t experienced a period since she was 13 and has been told she will never be able to have children. She regularly experiences seizures, collapses at random and has been told that another seizure may kill her.

Our family has exhausted every Avenue of help in our hometown of South Australia and unfortunately the approach to eating disorders and mental health here in Adelaide is atrocious. Every time jayda has been admitted into hospital she is put into intensive care, tube fed until a stable weight, discharged and sent home without any follow up or counselling. There is a lack of mental health and long term rehabilitation care here in Adelaide. As long as a patients vital signs are stable they’re condition is disregarded, they are sent home and the vicious cycle repeats.

Our family is suffering, we are now pleading for outside help to get Jayda into Australia’s only specialist residential eating disorder recovery centre in Queensland. This clinic is called “Wandi Nerida” and unfortunately it is financially unattainable for our family to afford.

Wandi Nerida is our family’s last hope for Jayda’s life in making recovery possible. I have sent up this go fund me to raise enough money to make this possible. We would appreciate any donations made toward this plea for help in saving my cousin.

Thank you.