"Thank you to the Yorkshire Centre for Eating Disorders"

Prior to my 9-10 month admission as an inpatient at Yorkshire Centre for Eating Disorders (YCED), I was severely underweight, hallucinating, isolated and wanted to die. My treatment at YCED saved my life, both physically and socially. Thanks to all the staff at YCED, I now enjoy a renewed sense of life and confidence. I have regained my friendships and developed new ones, as well as ready to commence a Graduate Management Scheme in September.

More specifically, throughout inpatient treatment the staff treated me with respect, dignity and as an individual. Not only did the staff support and provide time for me always, irrespective of their busy case loads, they ultimately got me through the most awful time of my life. I will honestly never forget all of the staff for their gift of life, words cannot express how thankful I am.

In particular, I wish to mention two individuals, Katie and Jackie. They were genuinely true role models to me, always encouraging me to get out of my comfort zone, go to parties, eat "fear" foods, live a little, haha. I would not be as confident, happy and about to commence a graduate scheme in September if it was not for these two individuals. I wish I could get them the recognition they deserve, if there is a possibility they may be rewarded, recognised in some way, or the staff population as a whole because they genuinely have saved my life.

I appreciate that this is unlikely to be possible, but I wanted to attempt to get Katie, Jackie and all of the inpatient staff at YCED the great recognition they deserve, particularly since I fear their efforts are 9 times out of 10 thankless.