Anorexic actress Rachael Farrokh told by hospitals she is too skinny to treat

Rachael Farrokh is trying to raise £64,000 ($100,000)

Serina Sandhu
Thursday 21 May 2015 14:36 BST
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Rachael Farrokh says she weighs 40-something pounds
Rachael Farrokh says she weighs 40-something pounds (Rachael's Road to Recovery/Youtube)

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A severely anorexic woman is pleading for donations to help her survive after hospitals said she was too underweight to treat.

Rachael Farrokh, 37, from San Clemente, California, has battled with anorexia nervosa for 10 years.

She is five-foot-seven and her weight has plummeted from 125 pounds to less than 50 pounds.

In a Youtube video which Farrokh has made to try to raise money for treatment, she said that “no hospitals will even take [her] at this point”, except for one across the country.

But she admitted her chances were very slim. “I need your help. We need your help. Otherwise I don’t have a shot. I’m ready to get better.”

Farrokh’s husband, Rod Edmondson, a former personal trainer, is now her full-time carergiver. He has created a GoFundMe page, Rachael’s Road to Recovery, to raise £64,000 ($100,000) to pay for her treatment.

So far more than £28,000 ($45,000) has been donated.

On the fundraising page, Edmondson wrote: “There is only one hospital in the country that specializes in refeeding patients at such a low body weight and it’s my mission to get her there.”

“If she receives too many calories her metabolism will kick up and she will lose even more weight. This is a VERY delicate medical situation.”

Edmondson said his wife was below the minimum weight requirement for other hospitals to treat her, adding that they “won’t admit her because she is liability for them”.

“Time is of the essence and I don’t want to lose the most important person in my life,” he said.

Farrokh is now bedridden. Her husband has to carry her and wash her.

She told ABC News that she had initially wanted to lose some weight to get better abs, but losing her job and having to deal with a painful memory led to anorexia.

“What’s funny [is] it doesn’t really sink into your psyche. You say, ‘OK, I’m going to get up and brush my teeth. Oh wait, I can’t.’ Even in my dreams, I dream as how I used to be.”

Farrokh also said that her low body weight made her brain slower and more forgetful.

“I want other anorexics to hear this. This is miserable. Everything hurts from my head down to my toes," she said.

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