Grieving dad of anorexia victim says families should ‘stick with’ sufferers

The father of a woman who died from chronic anorexia implored families in similar situations to “stick with” the sufferer following the inquest into her death.

“It is extraordinarily difficult to deal with it,” said John Keoghan. “It is not normal behaviour at all. It is impossible to deal with it. Families who have children with anorexia, they should stick with them, stay with them. Be kind to them and show them love. It is a long-term thing”.

Mr Keoghan was speaking outside Dublin Coroner’s Court after the conclusion of the inquest on his daughter Eva Keoghan, 40, a mother of one, who was found collapsed in her room at a Dublin City Council-run hostel on the South Circular Rd, Dublin 8, in the early hours of September 22, 2012. Ms Keoghan had suffered from anorexia for 20 years and most of her organs were atrophied — or wasted away — by the time she died.

Ms Keoghan’s family told coroner Brian Farrell that they had tried to get help for her. Speaking outside the court, Mr Keoghan said she had accessed some services initially but generally they were “non-existent”.

“Unless you have a lot of money, there is very little,” said Mr Keoghan. When she would visit his house she would never eat. “She would only drink warm water,” he said.

The inquest heard Ms Keoghan was found collapsed on the floor of her room at the hostel, where she was a long-term resident, when accommodation manager Alan Lynch went to check on her after midnight. She had been dead for a number of hours.

Pathologist Christian Gulmann told the inquest that, at autopsy, Ms Keoghan was “extremely thin” with a “profound decrease” in body fat deposits and “major atrophy” of all her internal organs except the brain. A toxicology screen came back negative for drugs or alcohol. The autopsy did not reveal any reason other than anorexia for the “marked emaciation” of the body, he said. The cause of death was given as “chronic starvation in keeping with anorexia”.

Dr Farrell said he was satisfied that Ms Keoghan was suffering from chronic anorexia and that she did not deliberately want to end her life.

He returned a narrative verdict outlining the facts.