A shocking video of severely anorexic Rachael Farrokh pleading for assistance has gone viral with over 50 000 YouTube views in the last month.
37-year-old Rachael Farrokh is very ill and is now appealing for any help she can get. Extreme anorexia has whittled her body away to roughly 18 kilograms, the equivalent weight of the average four year-old child. At about 1.7 metres tall, this puts Rachael's body mass index (BMI) at a shockingly low 6.3. To put this in perspective, a healthy BMI is one that falls in the range of 18.5 to 24.9.
Desperately weak and close to death, Rachael is too sick to move around on her own. Her husband Rod has had to quit his job to care for her full time and her condition is taking a serious toll on both of them. Rachael says she has been battling with this devastating condition for about 10 years and despite having gone to numerous treatment centres, she has not yet managed to overcome her illness.
Towards the end of April 2015, she posted a video on YouTube where she appeals for any assistance. In the video she asks that if anyone is able to assist, that they visit her Go Fund Me page to donate money.
The Go Fund Me account's description is painful to read. Written by Rod, it is a husband's desperate plea to save his wife who has wasted away before his eyes. He explains how none of the treatment centres nearby will accept Rachael as her condition is so severe that she does not make the minimum weight requirements for rehabilitation.
He goes on to describe how Rachael has suffered a number of serious complications as a result of her anorexia, including heart, liver and kidney failure. No nurses or physiotherapists will help Rachael as there is such a high liability risk, Rod explains.
In her video, Rachael explains that there is one treatment centre in the U.S that specialises in re-feeding patients who have extremely low body weight. She believes that they may take her but that her chances of being accepted are very slim. Her Go Fund Me account was created in the hope of raising the money required for that treatment.
So far her appeal has raised $45 000 of the $100 000 she needs to try and get better. Many of the people who have donated money have left heartfelt wishes for Rachael's recovery:
Watch Rachael's video below
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