How 'dying' for 20 minutes saved my life: Anorexic teenager is shocked into recovery after starving himself for four years

• Matthew Booth, from Bury, Manchester, began starving himself and excessively lifting weights aged 14 after being bullied for being 'different'
• He stopped eating completely and at his thinnest, weighed just 5st 8lbs
• At 18, he was rushed to hospital where his heart stopped and he 'died' for 20 minutes - the starvation had caused liver, kidney and heart failure
  

By Emily Payne for MailOnline

Published: 06:10 EDT, 29 May 2013 | Updated: 21:19 EDT, 29 May 2013

A man who developed anorexia and shrank to just 4st 5lbs has told how dying for 20 minutes helped shock him into recovery.

Matthew Booth, 20, began starving himself when he was 14-years-old.

At his worst, he stopped eating and drinking completely and at 18 was rushed to hospital, where his heart stopped and doctors battled for 20 minutes to bring him back to life.

Matthew Booth, 20, developed anorexia as a teenager (left, in 2011), but was shocked into recovery after 'dying' for 20  minutes due to heart failure when his weight dropped to 4st 5lb

Incredibly, he has now made a full recovery and is hoping to become a personal trainer.

The student, from Bury, Manchester, said his problems began when he was relentlessly beaten by a gang of school bullies every day for over a year because he was 'different'.

He was so desperate to stop the beatings that he started compulsively exercising and lifting weights to bulk up, throwing his lunch away in an attempt to change his appearance and 'fit in' at school. But eventually, unable to stop the bullies, he dropped out of school.

He said: 'I thought I was picked on for the way I looked so I wanted to change that. I had long hair, was into heavy metal music and a drummer in the school band so I wasn't in with the popular kids.

'I started lifting weights to try and get bigger to defend myself against the bullies, but I also began skipping meals, thinking this would help me bulk up.

'But the weight started falling off me, and it felt good to have something in my life I could actually control. Fed up of with the abuse I dropped out of school.'

Matthew with his mother Brenda, 61, in The Priory Hospital Adult Eating Disorder clinic in Cheadle in April 2011, after 'dying' two months earlier. At his lowest, he skipped breakfast and lunch and exercised for up to eight hours a day

Alone at home, while his mother Brenda, 61, worked full time as a civil servant, Matthew skipped breakfast and lunch, exercising up to eight hours a day.

Eventually, after he'd stopped eating altogether and had shrunk to 7st, his worried mother Brenda took her son to the doctor. He was diagnosed with anorexia and hospitalised two months later weighing just 5st 8lbs.

Matthew said: 'By the time I was admitted I couldn't walk and had to be taken in in a wheelchair.

'I refused to eat at first, but after a year of intensive therapy at three different eating disorder clinics, I really missed home and started to eat.

'My weight increased to 9st 4lbs and the doctors allowed me to go home.

'But as soon as I got home I went back to my old eating habits and excessive exercise.

'I was desperate to lose the weight again. I knew the only way I would be able to stay home was to trick people into thinking I was better.

A normal childhood: Matthew's problems began at school, when he was relentlessly beaten by a gang of school bullies every day for over a year because he was 'different'

'I had to attend weigh-ins every two weeks to monitor my recovery, but I would drink two litres of water just before my appointment so I appeared to have gained. The doctors couldn't tell what I was doing.

'Whenever I saw my mum in the evenings I would tell her what I'd eaten for breakfast and lunch. She worked full time, so it was easy to lie to her.

'I didn't even feel bad, I wasn't thinking straight. It was like someone else was living in my head.'

Despite the pain, the unrelenting cold and the constant feeling of exhaustion, Matthew could not break free from his obsession and he continued to restrict his body of food.

At this time Matthew had also began purging his food and abusing laxatives, taking up to 40 a day.
He spent the whole of Christmas day 2010 on his exercise bike, unable to relax at the thought of gaining just one pound.

At his thinnest, Matthew weighed just 5st 8lbs. He had stopped eating and drinking completely and became delusional, refusing to go into the kitchen for fear that food or drink would somehow enter his body

His body was shutting down and his mind had reached extreme levels of obsession. His anorexia sparked an all-consuming OCD, leading him to spend up to 16-hours a day walking in circles around his living room, unable to sit down.

At his worst, Matthew stopped drinking for three weeks, refusing to brush his teeth or even wash his face in fear that just a drop of water would see him gain weight. His lips were constantly bleeding from the dehydration.

Matthew said: 'By January 2011 nothing was allowed to pass through my mouth. I would wake up at 4am every morning and pace my bedroom in a zombie state until 10 o'clock at night.

'It was like I was on autopilot and unable to stop. I was struggling to stand but determined to exercise no matter how much pain my body was in.

'I was dreaming about food, it was clear my body was calling out for me to eat and drink, but I denied it.It was so bad that I became delusional, my mind was telling me I had drank some water when I hadn't and I was going mad with paranoia.

Full recovery: Matthew Booth, 20, with girlfriend Tammy, 18, in 2012. He now has ambitions to become a personal trainer one day

'I would shout at my mum to tell me if I had eaten a slice of toast on her plate. I was convinced I had.

'By the end I couldn't swallow, my lips were cracked and were constantly bleeding. My face was practically rotting.'

At this point Matthew wouldn't even go into the kitchen out of fear that food or drink would somehow enter his body.

In February 2011, when he was 18, Matthew was sectioned by his doctor and rushed to Fairfield Hospital in Bury.

Two days later he suffered heart failure and died for 20 minutes.

Doctors were able to revive him, but told him he would die again if he didn't start eating.

Matthew said: 'I remember waking up and the doctor looking at me saying 'you just died,' I couldn't believe it. I burst into tears.They said if they hadn't had taken me in when they did I'd be dead. It was the wake up call I needed to start recovering.

'When my mum turned up and told me they had rang her after 10 minutes of trying to revive me telling her I might not live, I felt so guilty for putting her through it all.

Support: Matthew says his girlfriend Tammy reassures him about his body and makes him feel confident about the way he looks. He believes that his near death experience changed his outlook on life forever

'I asked her to pass me a mirror so I could look at my face. When I saw my reflection I didn't recognise the person staring back at me.

'I looked like an 80-year-old man, not an 18-year-old boy. I was being tube fed and had to go to the toilet through a tube. It was humiliating.'

Matthew's body was so damaged that doctors had to check his blood every two hours to monitor his glucose levels. The starvation had caused liver, kidney and heart failure.

Matthew says his near death experience made him realise how much he really wanted to live

Matthew fell unconscious two days later after suffering from re-feeding syndrome. He spent four weeks in hospital being fed through tubes and was later referred to Cheadle Adult Eating Disorder clinic for further treatment and physiotherapy to help him walk again.

Matthew, who now lives in Lowestoft, Suffolk with girlfriend, Tammy Earrye, 18 said: 'Gradually my body started to recover and I was determined never to go back to hospital again.

'I became more positive and began to eat, increasing my calorie intake every day.

'A year after I was discharged I met Tammy online. At first I was scared to tell her what had happened to me, but once I opened up to her she was so understanding and caring. I could tell her anything.

'She was my first girlfriend and she made me feel like I wasn't a freak and that she liked me for who I was.

'Whenever I feel insecure about my body she tells me she loves me the way I am and that I should be confident about the way I look. I still get horrible thoughts, but she's there to support me on my down days.'

Matthew is now training to become a fitness trainer.

He added: 'My near death experience made me realise how much I really wanted to live. It changed my outlook on life and I was determined to recover.

'Knowing I might not have lived still upsets me today. I feel guilty for putting my mum through the worry of losing a child.

'Coming back from the dead made me want to live. I was given a second chance at life and wasn't going to waste it.'