“I would rather die than eat”: a 26-year-old Australian woman spoke about her struggle with anorexia.

Anorexia is a terrible disease that many people prefer not to talk about until it’s too late. Australian resident Emma Barrow recently spoke about her difficult struggle with this disease, who was on the verge of life and death due to refusal to eat. According to the girl, she was so carried away by counting calories that at some point she began to see numbers instead of food.

Australian Emma Barrow has struggled with anorexia since adolescence . In her youth, she studied dancing and strived to ensure that any stage outfit fit her perfectly. The girl became so concerned about her figure that she began throwing away food secretly from her parents. When the dresses for performances became too big, Emma began to make excuses to her parents - supposedly the seamstress had mixed up the measurements. For the time being, they believed her, until at the age of 16 the girl was diagnosed with anorexia.

By 2012, the disease had become acute. “I didn’t even have the strength to move around the house - I could only crawl. I couldn’t even take a normal shower because it was hard to stand,” Emma admitted to The Daily Mail.

As a result, due to malnutrition and dehydration, the girl was taken to the hospital, where she was connected to a feeding tube. Doctors warned Emma's family that she was balancing on the brink of life and death: her kidneys and liver began to fail.

“The doctors told me that I was only alive because they were giving me glucose. And I just asked them how many calories I was getting. I was truly hysterical. I would rather die than eat and get fat again,” Barrow recalls.

Even in the hospital, the girl continued to protest: she hid food from the medical staff, and when she was given glucose and nutrients, she pulled out her hair in the hope that the doctors would stop the therapy. The turning point in Emma's treatment was working with a psychotherapist. “Only then did I realize that I wanted to overcome anorexia . “I almost died and I want to live,” the Australian shared.

Now Emma is much better, but she has not yet been able to completely cure the disease. However, the girl is confident that she will soon recover, and advises everyone who finds themselves in a similar situation not to be shy and ask for help from loved ones.