Pieces of My Heart (52 page)

Authors: Sinead Moriarty

Tags: #Fiction, #General

BOOK: Pieces of My Heart

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‘That must be a relief for Ali. Being stuck with the perfect-child label is impossible to live up to.’

‘You’re so right. I think Ali feels a weight off her shoulders, to be honest. And as for Paul and me, things are just so much better. It was scary – we were really drifting apart, but because we’ve had to cling to each other through this rollercoaster ride, we’ve found each other again. Honestly, I feel as if we’ve fallen in love for the second time. It’s amazing.’

‘So maybe Ali’s crisis wasn’t all bad.’

‘I hate the fact that she’s been so sick and that she won’t fully recover for a long time, but I now believe that in life you get dealt a hand of cards and you just have to struggle through and make the most of what you have. We’re battered and bruised but, as a family, we’re closer, more honest and caring.’

‘I’m all about being honest. It’s worked out for me.’ Sally smiled.

‘Which is so fantastic. So, any idea when the wedding will be?’

‘We’re thinking late June, when Ali’s exams are over. I want the girls to be my bridesmaids.’

‘Oh, Sally, that’s so nice. They’ll be thrilled.’

‘It’s probably going to be in Tuscany – I’m working on the location. But it’s literally going to be you guys and us. I’m not inviting any family because if I invite one I have to invite all of them, and Simon’s parents are dead and his brother lives in an ashram in India, so he probably won’t come anyway.’

‘What is the blushing bride planning on wearing?’

‘Definitely not white. Maybe a scarlet dress, seeing as I’m marrying a divorcee and I’m refusing to procreate.’

‘And you’re not exactly a vestal virgin.’

‘Not exactly.’

We giggled.

I leant back in my chair. ‘Tuscany in June sounds like heaven. I can’t wait.’

‘Speaking of which, I’m really sorry, Ava, but I have to go. I’m meeting Simon to pick up the ring. He’s had it enlarged from midget size to big-knuckle size.’

‘Off you go. That’s a very important date. I’ll see you tomorrow bright and early.’

‘Thanks for a lovely lunch and for your invaluable friendship.’ She kissed me and rushed off to meet Simon.

I finished my drink, paid the bill, put my coat on and walked down the street feeling the warmth of the spring air as I went.

Acknowledgements

I had a lot of help researching this book and I’d especially like to thank:

Harriet Parsons from Bodywhys for her patience, kindness and generosity in educating me about eating disorders; Dr Valerie Freeman, consultant clinical nutritionist, for helping me understand the potential causes of anorexia and how to heal it; Patricia Deevy, my editor, who was instrumental as always in this book being completed; Rachel Pierce, who held my hand through the numerous rewrites and played a big part in making the book better; Michael McLoughlin, Cliona Lewis, Patricia McVeigh, Brian Walker and all the team at Penguin Ireland for making the publishing process so enjoyable; all in the Penguin UK office, especially Helen Fraser, Tom Weldon, Joanna Prior, Naomi Fidler, Clare Pollock and the fantastic sales, marketing and creative teams; Hazel Orme, as always, for her incredible copy-editing; my agent Gillon Aitken and Kate Shaw and all at the agency for their hard work; Marianne Gunn O’Connor – my new partner in crime; Mick Drumm for his insight into surfing.

Thanks to my friends for their warmth, humour and most of all their loyalty. Good friends are a very precious commodity. To Sue and Mike for always being there. To Mum and Dad for always cheering me on. To Hugo, Geordy and our beautiful little Amy, for allowing me to experience the joy of unconditional love. And to Troy, for putting up with me and encouraging me as I tore my hair out over this book and, most of all, for being the best person in the world to go through life with.

This book was difficult to write. I felt such a strong sense of responsibility to honour the many incredible women I met who helped with my research. I have tried to portray eating disorders in an honest and candid way. Unfortunately the clinic described in the book is fictional. There are no such clinics in Ireland for sufferers of eating disorders. This is something that needs to be changed. Bodywhys and other voluntary organizations like it are doing incredible work to help sufferers of eating disorders and their families. But it’s not enough: we need government funding and we need to increase awareness of this potentially fatal illness.

About Eating Disorders and the Lack of Public Health Care for Sufferers

There are currently just
three
public hospital beds allocated to eating disorders in Ireland. The three beds are located in St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin. This sorry figure demonstrates how far down on the government’s list of priorities eating disorders fall.

The Department of Health estimates that up to two hundred thousand people in Ireland may be affected by eating disorders. An estimated four hundred new cases emerge each year, with eighty deaths annually.

According to a 2007 study of Irish children and adolescents, 1.2 per cent of Irish girls may be at risk of developing anorexia nervosa, with 2 per cent at risk of developing bulimia nervosa. HRB data shows that in the case of child and adolescent psychiatric admissions in Ireland in 2007, eating disorders represented the second highest level of diagnosis at 15 per cent; 71.4 per cent of Irish adolescents feel adversely affected by media portrayal of body weight and shape.

There has been a 67 per cent increase in the number of men treated for eating disorders in the UK in the last five years.

Bodywhys – the Eating Disorders Association of Ireland – is the national voluntary organization supporting people affected by eating disorders. It provides a network of support groups across the country for those affected by eating disorders. It also runs groups for friends and family members who may be in need of support. The groups are facilitated by trained volunteers and are free to attend.

The Bodywhys LoCall Helpline (1890 200 444) runs seven days per week, and is staffed by trained volunteers who provide support and information to people affected by eating disorders and to their friends and family members. For up-to-date times of operation, see
www.bodywhys.ie

BodywhysConnect is an online support group, which is particularly popular with young people and with those who wish to maintain anonymity or are living in an isolated area. The service runs four–five nights per month and is based on the website at
www.bodywhys.ie

The Bodywhys email support service, [email protected], allows for increased anonymity and flexibility while providing the optimal level of support.

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