Vicky Nash's fear of vomiting is so debilitating that she hasn't had a proper meal in 15 years and weighs less than seven stone, despite being 5'6inches tall. Before she was prescribed dietary supplements by her doctor, she weighed 31kg.
Her fear, known as emetophobia,
means that she obsessively cleans her home to rid it of germs that could
make her sick and washes her hands thirty times a day.
But perhaps the most significant
impact is that she has already given up on the chance to ever become a
mother because she is so terrified of morning sickness.
She met her current partner Dave
Robinson, 40, through her former husband Danny Howard, when they split
with in 2013, partly due to the fact he wanted children.
And Dave soon
realised the impact it would have on their lives after a condom split,
which sent Vicky into a total panic as she despaired over the idea of
morning sickness or even taking the morning after pill.
As she was lying on the floor trying
to build up the courage to swallow the pill which she feared may
trigger a gag reflex, Dave pledged to have a vasectomy.
Vicky said: 'At first I tried to
talk him out of it, then I tried to push him away but he was determined
and I gave in. We both knew it was sensible if we wanted to be
together.'
Dave, who is the last male Robinson
in his family, said: 'I realise I've given up the chance to have
children if Vicky and I split but I don't think that's ever going to
happen. 'I don't want to be without her.'
On top of that, she finds it
difficult to leave the house because of her agoraphobia, a fear of going
outside which meant she couldn't even go and see her father in the days
before he died.
Dave has now given up his job as a
security guard to become her full-time carer, yet another sacrifice he
has had to make for love.
He must also learn to live in a
super-hygenic house, wiping down every surface and only bringing meat
inside if it is stored in the freezer.
Vicky was just 11 when she was
diagnosed with the disease after nearly choking on her own vomit. It
came at a difficult time after being sexually abused by a family friend
and as her parents got divorced.
The condition was so serious that
she was allowed to leave school at 14 and she has made numerous attempts
to overcome it, trying hypnotherapy, acupuncture and even paying £1,000
for over-the-phone counselling from specialists in America.
However, she fears she will never conquer the disease as she watches friends move on with their lives and start families.
Vicky even said she would not be a
good mother in her current condition, admitting she would worry too much
about them falling ill and being sick.
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