‘I have a life now;
before I was
barely existing
’
For most 22 year olds, a birthday celebration
would involve a few drinks and perhaps a
night out dancing with friends. For Penny
Crocker, however, it meant being helped
slowly down the stairs for dinner at home
Penny today
where she struggled to manage a few
mouthfuls of mashed potato.
Having been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes
WORDS: SARA NIVEN
at the age of 18 months, Penny had fallen prey
to another serious medical condition in her
late teens – anorexia nervosa. From a healthy
weight of 9 stone, she lost literally almost half
her body weight, leaving her an emaciated and
life-threatening 4st 11lbs.
Yet Penny, now 27, from Hendon in North
London, says she had no idea that when she
fi rst stopped eating and started skipping her
insulin injections it would result in such a
serious situation.
‘My stomach had bloated out which I was
told was the result of having a fatty liver and
could be connected with my diabetes,’ she says.
‘People used to make unkind comments which
made me feel self-conscious and by the time I
started sixth form I had begun pretending I had
eaten when I hadn’t, hiding food in pockets or
leaving plates in the sink so Mum would think
I’d made myself a meal. At one point I was
living just on liquids – milk, orange juice and
Lucozade to keep my blood glucose up.’
At the same time, Penny started becoming
haphazard about taking her regular insulin as she watched her daughter get thinner. noticeable, but I remember feeling exhausted
injections because she didn’t want to be the odd ‘She was always asking what I had eaten all the time; my body literally felt too heavy for
one out among her friends, although she says and telling me she was worried, but by this my legs to carry. If I did try to eat, food would
she had no idea at the time that this would also stage I was an adult so there wasn’t that much literally stick in my throat and I found myself
exacerbate her weight loss. Her mother wasn’t she could do when I insisted I was fi ne,’ recalls struggling to breathe.’
aware that Penny was failing to take care of her Penny. ‘I used to avoid her and cover up in The turning point came at the start of 2004
diabetes, but did grow increasingly concerned coats and jumpers so my weight loss was less when Penny forced herself to look at her naked
54 Sweet Magazine
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