It took just two months for Perth student Grace Brandenburg to go from being a healthy 13-year-old to so shockingly thin she was admitted to hospital and force-fed through a tube.
The recovering Perth anorexic says she fears for what might happen to other girls – and boys – battling similar demons when Princess Margaret Hospital’s eating disorders Day Program is suspended over the next five months.
Grace, now 17, is lobbying for an alternative service to be offered while the program is reviewed, and has already amassed more than 4000 signatures through a Change.org petition.
According to Perth Now, Grace says many patients and their families depended on the Day PRogram – which helped sufferers develop a healthy relationship with food while allowing them to keep up with their schooling and go home at night.
Grace says she lost 15kg in two months and was on the Day Program waiting list when a school nurse warned her: ‘You’re not going to make it if you wait.’