Anorexic 19-year-old died of heart attack, inquest told

Teenage girls struggling with eating disorders do not realise the “knife-edge” danger they face from an imbalance of electrolytes, a coroner warned yesterday.

Cork City coroner Dr Myra Cullinane was speaking after an inquest into the tragic death of Gráinne O’Donoghue, 19, from Carrigaline, Co Cork.

The 6.5-stone teenager, who had a body mass index of just 17, had struggled with anorexia for almost seven years before she collapsed at home on Jan 4 and subsequently died.