A 12 year old girl is being force fed three times a day while doctors and judges wrestle with how to cope with her mystery illness.
The girl, who has not been identified, is being treated at a hospital near her home for an eating disorder, although medics have been unable to identify the cause of her illness.
Details of the case were published after Mr Justice Hayden analysed evidence at a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London on Tuesday.
Read more: Glasgow girl, 2, becomes youngest ever to get 'deep-brain' surgery
nother hearing at the court had ruled that the girl could be force fed, amid concerns she could be close to death. The judge said there was no evidence to suggest that the problem was related to “body image” or social media pressure.
Doctors were trying to work out whether the cause was “organic”, psychological, or related to a genetic mutation.
The girl, who is four feet seven, now weighs just four and a half stones and will not eat, Mr Justice Hayden heard on Tuesday.
The judge said the youngster’s declining weight was “disturbing” and “frightening” and said time was not on anyone’s side. She was being restrained and force-fed through a tube three times a day, he was told.
Read more: Widow's 'life wrecked' after botched smear test leaves her plagued by constant orgasms
He oversaw the hearing in private but ruled that the case could be reported after an application by a journalist, arguing publicity could benefit the girl if her case came to the attention of specialist who might help. Hospital bosses say they have been unable to find a specialist unit which can provide the treatment required by the youngster.
Mr Justice Hayden said he would review developments on Thursday.Mr Justice Hayden said the girl could not be identified, journalists could not reveal where in the UK she lived, or which hospital authority was responsible for her care, in case such detail created an information jigsaw which revealed her identity.
Barrister Andrew Bagchi QC represented the hospital authority and told the judge how the girl’s weight had dipped below the 30kg mark.
He said another judge had approved force-feeding at another, more recent High Court hearing.
Mr Justice Hayden said he wanted the girl to get support to help her cope with the trauma of being force-fed – and said he wanted to be sure there was no alternative to force-feeding.
“We have a 12-year-old girl being force-fed three times a day,” said the judge.
“I personally cannot think of anything more horrific.”
The girl’s parents watched the hearing via a video link so they could stay with her at hospital. Mr Justice Hayden was told how the girl was held down by four members of staff when force-fed.
Her father had described the episodes as “barbaric”, he heard, while her mother could not bear to watch.
“She’s a bright kid,” her father told the judge. “She’s a beautiful kid who loves life so much, who wants to get better and get back to school and back to life.”
He added: “To see her as this husk is really horrid.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel