Teenager dies after anorexia fight (From Daily Echo)
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Student found dead at home
7:58am Tuesday 27th January 2009 in News By Echo Reporter
Former Brockenhurst College student Alice Rae.
A HAMPSHIRE teenager has died in her sleep after losing a two-year battle with anorexia.
Talented student Alice Rae was on course to study at Cambridge University after she finished her A-Levels at Brockenhurst college.
But the pretty 18-year-old died at her Hampshire home after succumbing to the eating disorder.
Her mum Dr Christine Rae described her daughter as "beautiful, clever and incredibly gifted".
She said: "We were very proud of her.
"But she had battled anorexia for two years and had become very, very thin as she was going through a bad patch."
"She was not very well but her death was very sudden," she added.
Dr Rae went on to describe how it was her who found Alice, a brilliant student who had achieved nine A* grades at GCSE level. "It is particularly distressing as I was the one who found her when I went in to wake her - she had died in her sleep.
"I do not know what caused her anorexia but in the last year she really deteriorated. We tried all sorts of treatment but nothing worked."
Alice, who attended the private all girls St Swithun's school in Winchester, had been under the care of an eating disorder clinic in Eastleigh and towards the end was under full NHS care.
Health bosses are now undertaking a full review of the care Alice, who had two brothers William, 23, Tom, 21, and 17-year-old sister Georgina, received after the family said they were not happy with her treatment.
A Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust spokesman said a full review was underway following Alice's death. "The trust will be making contact with Miss Rae's family to involve them in the process and discuss any matters regarding the care and treatment of Alice."
Alice, who had been accepted to study economics at Gonville & Caius College in Cambridge, will be buried on Friday at a service at the All Saints church in Houghton where she lived with her mum and dad Peter, 52, a company director.
The Rev Ron Corne, who will lead the service said: "She was a lovely, beautiful girl and the family are understandably devastated."
Tributes were also paid by friends who have flooded a social networking site with messages of condolence.
Jamie Burrows, 20, said: "She had just got into Cambridge and she'd worked incredibly hard at school. She had everything going for her.
"She was obviously a skinny girl but I didn't know that she was ill."
Comments(22)
Millbrook Dave
says...
8:37am Tue 27 Jan 09
Ann Balref
says...
9:15am Tue 27 Jan 09
The reasons this girl didn't want to eat were not the fault of her NHS care. These girls(and sometimes boys) are tortured by their own self-image - if her own Mother couldn't get her to eat how can they expect other people to?
Nearly an OAP
says...
9:42am Tue 27 Jan 09
mr mad to work there
says...
9:43am Tue 27 Jan 09
itsmehere
says...
10:13am Tue 27 Jan 09
My thoughts are with her family at this sad time.
Nearly an OAP
says...
10:20am Tue 27 Jan 09
Georgem
says...
10:30am Tue 27 Jan 09
A very sad story granted, but why are the family looking for somebody else to blame?
Maybe because it makes their grief easier to cope with at this time? A horrible, tragic situation
Vix1
says...
10:52am Tue 27 Jan 09
Ann Balref wrote:Sometimes they listen to someone else because they feel that their parents or those closest to them will love them regardless of how they look so will be biased in their opinion of them. I say this from experience having nursed a lady with anorexia. Her daughter loved her to pieces and thought her Mum was beautiful, but it made the ladies anorexia worse because she felt her daughters view was coloured by her unconditional love. My condolences to the family, you did all you could and she would have known that. God bless xx
A very sad story granted, but why are the family looking for somebody else to blame?
The reasons this girl didn't want to eat were not the fault of her NHS care. These girls(and sometimes boys) are tortured by their own self-image - if her own Mother couldn't get her to eat how can they expect other people to?
Big Boy
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12:29pm Tue 27 Jan 09
Archie Bald
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12:55pm Tue 27 Jan 09
Big Boy wrote:At what point did Force Feeding become part of the NHS remit?
I can well believe that the family were not happy with her treatment. Under full NHS care & she still manages to starve herself to death! They were obviously asleep at the wheel. NHS does not deserve the money we throw at it!
This unfortunate young lady was responsible for nourishing her body in order to stay alive.
The warped mental state with which anorexic's exist has resulted in her death - she obviously felt starving herself to be a better proposition than eating.
Time and effort spent towards understanding and dealing with the triggers for this terrible affliction would make far more sense than attempting to blame the agency tasked to deal with the end result.
goard
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1:00pm Tue 27 Jan 09
goard
Archie Bald
says...
1:03pm Tue 27 Jan 09
goard wrote:Huh?
Sadly, we are looking at a whole new science - psychological. We always looked upon but at the moment we are scraping the barrel. This is a moment of time - its a matter of progressing, unfortunately, not in our time. Religion - I doubt not. This progression is 'nature'. goard
Shoong
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1:04pm Tue 27 Jan 09
Ann Balref wrote:Every girls & ladies mag I see has the word 'DIET' on the cover week in, week out. You don't see it on or mags for boys & blokes.
A very sad story granted, but why are the family looking for somebody else to blame?
The reasons this girl didn't want to eat were not the fault of her NHS care. These girls(and sometimes boys) are tortured by their own self-image - if her own Mother couldn't get her to eat how can they expect other people to?
The industry preys upon the fears of young women. They seem to put the message across that unless you are what they define as beautiful then boys will not like you & you may as well be dead. Most grow out of it, some do not & sticks.
Diet advice should be sought from professionals, not amateur quacks in these magazines...
18 yrs old, for gawds sake...
timjim
says...
1:14pm Tue 27 Jan 09
Archie Bald wrote:his posts get more mental everyday!
goard wrote: Sadly, we are looking at a whole new science - psychological. We always looked upon but at the moment we are scraping the barrel. This is a moment of time - its a matter of progressing, unfortunately, not in our time. Religion - I doubt not. This progression is 'nature'. goardHuh?
Nearly an OAP
says...
1:21pm Tue 27 Jan 09
Miles Sway
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1:22pm Tue 27 Jan 09
timjim wrote:A return to form for Goard; he had me worried as his one on the bloke fined £75 for feeding birds was actually lucid. Thanks heavens normality (or insanity?) has returned.
Archie Bald wrote:his posts get more mental everyday!
goard wrote: Sadly, we are looking at a whole new science - psychological. We always looked upon but at the moment we are scraping the barrel. This is a moment of time - its a matter of progressing, unfortunately, not in our time. Religion - I doubt not. This progression is 'nature'. goardHuh?
As for Alice, so tragic and what a waste. It must take incredible willpower to deliberately not eat when your body must be crying out for it. Very sad.
Georgem
says...
3:13pm Tue 27 Jan 09
goard wrote:What on earth are you dribbling on about? Seriously. Your post here contains absolutely nothing whatsoever that resembles an actual coment. "I doubt not"? WTF? Why is "psychological" a new science? I can only conclude that you are indeed, just a small program written to generate sentences that appear to be English, but aren't, rather than an actual human being
Sadly, we are looking at a whole new science - psychological. We always looked upon but at the moment we are scraping the barrel. This is a moment of time - its a matter of progressing, unfortunately, not in our time. Religion - I doubt not. This progression is 'nature'.
goard
Georgem
says...
3:19pm Tue 27 Jan 09
Nearly an OAP wrote:Indeed. It's a shame that the feminine gender us under so much more pressure to conform, physically, to unrealistic "norms", which aren't, of course, norms at all. At some point in the past, what was once "you can take advantage of your femininity and look better by doing " became "in order to appear normal, you must do " where was anything ranging from wearing high heels, makeup, being thin, having a particular bra size, the list goes on. An absolute travesty that's caused nothing but misery for millions of women, and, lets not forget, impressionable girls. Even the most outgoing, outwardly-confident woman suffers as a result, to one degree or another. The most extreme, well, read the story. Sickening
To my knowledge eating disorders are increasing in males but it is still predominately a female illness. The cases that I have come across usually look into a mirror and see a fat person even though they are painfully thin. If blame is to be apportioned it must surely be the fashion trade, who push their images at the teenagers. Force feeding is a last resort for the NHS and, I am told, is very distressing for the patient.
allotment-grower
says...
4:15pm Tue 27 Jan 09
her body shut down because it wasnt being given what it needed,
the NHS shouldnt be to blame,it was her wish to be like this nobody forced her too.she was very skinny in the photo shown above,so she must of been painfully thin at the end.She must of been soo hungry but scared to eat.
waste of a life
Jonana Banana
says...
4:15pm Tue 27 Jan 09
However, why are 'health bosses' reviewing this now.Its always too late.
Also, why is it that someone has to die before acts/policies are made. Theres something not right about these system.
wilsamsaints
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5:22pm Tue 27 Jan 09
ellie25
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3:20pm Sat 31 Jan 09
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