Southern California

Woman Battling Anorexia Pleads For Help in Emotional YouTube Video

Rachael Farrokh explains her years-long struggle with the both physical and mental disorder and how near death she is at 5 feet 7 inches, weighing a mere “40-something pounds.”

Fighting for her life and asking the public for help, an emaciated woman from Southern California posts an emotional video on YouTube, spotlighting her battle with an eating disorder.

Sitting on a couch, looking gaunt and at times struggling to speak, 37-year-old Rachael Farrokh says, “I need your help. I’m suffering from an eating disorder and it’s a very severe kind of anorexia.”

She goes on to explain her years-long struggle with the both physical and mental disorder and how near death she is at 5 feet 7 inches, weighing a mere “40-something pounds.”

Farrokh’s husband Rod Edmondson quit his job to become her 24-hour caretaker as she is bedridden and too weak to move around on her own in their San Clemente home.

At one point, he is seen holding Farrokh, cradling her down a flight of stairs with her frail body clinging to him.

The couple asks for donations to help Farrokh get to a hospital in Denver that specializes in severe cases like hers. They both say hospitals in the area won’t treat her because her current weight makes her a “liability.”

“My lovely wife and I have been together for more than a decade and she will be seeing her final days if we don’t take action!,” Edmondson writes on a GoFundMe page created for Farrokh.

“The funding will help cover medical bills and overall treatment. Time is of the essence and I don't want to lose the most important person in my life,” he writes.

He warns about the oversimplification of the disorder, writing about how it’s not a quick fix for Farrokh.

“People think it's just about being skinny and that they just need to eat something and it will be all better. The reality is people are hurting so much that they're trying to make themselves disappear, and if we ignore it we let them.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Anorexia isn’t really about food. It’s an unhealthy way to try to cope with emotional problems. When you have anorexia, you often equate thinness with self-worth.”

The video was posted on April 29 and garnered more than 1.7 million voews on YouTube as of Sunday, May 24. Farrokh's GoFundMe page has raised nearly $30,000 of its $100,000 goal.

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