MARY CAMERON ROBINSON (CAMMY) • 1979 – 2005
On September 2, 2005 we received a phone call saying in essence, our daughter Cammy ‘s heart was not beating, and she was on her way to Erlanger hospital by way of ambulance. While we huddled with close friends and family in prayer, we were given the devastating news that she was gone.
How does something like this happen to a vibrant 26 year old young woman? How do you reconcile just two days prior taking a long walk with someone who expressed her dreams for the future who appeared healthy and happy. Well, I can only state that eating disorders are deadly.
She suffered from all three of the eating disorders (defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders #4). She had binge eating disorder in high school, where she ate in excess in private. During her freshmen year in college she turned to bulimia to rid herself of her excess high school weight. She could eat large amounts of food and then purge by way of vomiting. She was also pairing her bulimia with anorexia which can often be the case. This behavior took its toll when in her junior year of college she went into cardiac arrest, and we almost lost her for the first time. We learned when you purge you rid yourself of essential electrolytes that control the beating of the heart and thus causing it to shut down.
