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
8lbsAt 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
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
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.
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.' 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. '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.
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.
At his thinnest, Matthew
weight just 5st 8lbs.
'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. '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 18year-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 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.'
1. Why is the word dying in the title written between quotation marks?
2. Besides starving himself what was the other thing that happened to Matthew because of the
bullying (paragraph 3)?
3. How was it visible that the anorexia had become very bad (paragraph 4)?
4. How did Matthew trick people into thinking he had gained weight (paragraph 4)?
5. What complaints did Matthew have because of his anorexia, name three (paragraph 5)?
6. OCD stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. How did this show in Matthew’s
behaviour? (paragraph 6)
7. What made Matthew want to overcome his disease (paragraph 8)
8. ‘It was humiliating’(paragraph 8). What was so humiliating?
9. What does Matthew’s girlfriend do to make him feel more confident? (paragraph 9)