Meet Twitter user Wild Cabbage.
The left one, in case you’re wondering.
Now, at first glance, she looks pretty normal. Blessed with sweet, elfin features and a cute smile, you would have expected her to be the popular girl in school, with top grades and a good-looking boyfriend to boot.
But here’s the thing; more than a decade ago…
This Japanese woman was suffering at the hands of her own grandfather.
In a series of posts on Twitter last month, she revealed how her grandfather used to refuse to feed her, and also physically abused her when she was caught eating behind his back.
As a result, she weighed just 37lbs (16.8kgs)… and had a literal skeletal frame.
What happened?!
Hailing from Kyoto, Japan, the woman wrote about how her grandfather would starve her repeatedly, and kick her in the belly.
When she was caught eating, her grandfather would force her to spit out the food.
The violent spate of physical abuse would continue until she was hospitalised.
At that point in time, she weighed a shocking 16.8 kg.
The woman added that according to experts, she was “ten minutes away from death” when she was rescued by authorities.
Fake
While majority were sympathetic, some accused her of faking the pictures.
In response, the woman posted a series of images of her allegedly in the hospital.
In the pictures, you can clearly see dark bruises on her neck and chest, apparent marks of her grandfather’s abuse.
More than a decade on
The woman, now in her 20s, said that she recovered from her ordeal, and is currently of healthy weight ten years on.
However, she did not mention her grandfather in the post, or whether any action was taken against him.
The woman has also requested all those who are facing eating disorders or similar physical abuse to seek help, before “it’s too late”.
You can check out the original post here.
As someone who struggled with anorexia before, I just want to say this: it wasn’t fun.
Every day felt like torture, with the constant, incessant need to shed weight. Even when my bones were sticking out all over the place and my mum was practically weeping at my side, I couldn’t stop thinking, “I need to lose weight. More. More.”
But here’s the thing; this Japanese woman is different. She wasn’t a victim of her own mindset.
She was forced by another living being to do so.
Which is also why I can’t even begin to imagine the pain, the torture and the trauma she must have gone through. The fact that the aggressor was none other than her own grandpa couldn’t have helped either.
But somehow, somehow, she beat it. She persisted, and she won.
So kudos, my young lady. And I hope your journey from hereon will be one that gleams brightly and strongly. ?