In December 2014, we realised there was something seriously amiss with our 13 year old daughter, Lucia, when we collected her from school at the end of term.  She had no appetite and we were to discover she had lost a dangerous amount of weight which in turn lead to an emergency admission into hospital.  She had become a victim of anorexia; an illness which has become frighteningly ever more prevalent in teenage girls.

As it was the run up to Christmas we, her family had a difficult time. We had no knowledge of this illness and as services started to shut down over the Christmas period, of course, we turned to the Internet.  The first site we found ourselves led to was 'BEAT'.  We couldn't believe we were in this situation but here we were trawling through a mine of information.  It was the only support we had for four very dark and terrifying days until on Monday morning after Christmas Lucia was rescued by the NHS Oxford team that saved her life and has guarded it for the ensuing eighteen months.

Fact:  Anorexia kills more people than any other mental illness.

For us, this is an ongoing illness and Lucia is still battling it hard, sometimes anorexia has the upper hand, ie three months in a wheelchair, three emergency admissions to A&E, stuff I can't mention; but we hope and pray that the agony and fear of this illness will end and Lucia will be released to find pleasure in life again.

BEAT was a reference point for us at the beginning and it is there offering help and hope to families trying to get to grips with an eating disorder.

So above Devon on Monday 22 August as the sun rises Dee, Ness, James and Michael are jumping out of an aeroplane at 15000 ft, the highest you can jump without oxygen.  ( The original date of 20 June was a washout but we went to the airfield anyway and met the lovely team at  Honiton Airfield). 

Thank you for your support.

Ness, Michael, James and Dee

(Mother, Father, Brother and Grandmother of Lucia)