When she was hospitalised last year after collapsing from weakness, Maddie Gillespie weighed as much as a small child.
A year later, the healthy Hillside woman, 19, is helping others with an eating disorder.
In October, she will take part in an Altona Meadows ‘Zumbathon’ – an activity she loves – to raise awareness and money for the Butterfly Foundation, which helps people affected by eating disorders.
Ms Gillepsie says her descent into anorexia started after bullying from her peers.
“It started with a few friends of mine at the time bullying me to the point where I thought I had to be someone I wasn’t,” she says.
“So I started going to the gym and trying to eat healthy.
“For a while it was working for me … but then it just took over.
“You think that getting skinny will bring you peace of mind … it brings you to the point where you isolate yourself because you don’t want people to see how skinny you’ve gotten.’’
Ms Gillespie says she wouldn’t go out to lunch or dinner with people because she was too scared to eat.
She said her behaviour while suffering from the eating disorder affected her previously open and honest relationship with her family.
“I was lying and deceiving, which is something I’d never usually never do.”
Ms Gillespie realised something was amiss and sought help from GPs and psychiatrists.
“I ended up being put in hospital because I fell over and hit my head due to lack of energy,’’ she says.
‘‘That was when I finally realised that something was really wrong, because when I was in there they were shocked by how skinny I was.
“I had all these tests done in hospital which revealed a lot of things about my liver shutting down due to what I was doing.”
Ms Gillespie spent two weeks in hospital and several months at the Melbourne Clinic, Australia’s largest private mental health service.
While she has gained weight, she says she still battles between her “eating disorder self” and “normal voice”. But it’s a battle she’s winning.
The ‘Zumbathon’ will be held at Queen of Peace Parish Primary School at 7pm on October 11. Tickets are $15 ($20 at the door).
For more details, phone 0420 995 887.
Anyone experiencing problems should ring Eating Disorders Foundation Victoria on 9885 0318 or 1300 550 236 if outside the metropolitan area.
For more information email edfv@eatingdisorders.org.au
