Liz - my inspirational sister

Posted Thursday 5 July 2012

From the age of 15 until her early twenties my sister Liz struggled with anorexia. This led to depression and several incidences of self-harm. There was a time when we weren’t even sure she was going to make it.

She seemed to be getting better on several occasions, such as when she began different jobs or got her own flat, only to suffer a setback and relapse. As well as anorexia, she suffered from circulation problems which meant she was constantly cold and also had ME and glandular fever. She had a tough time and often found it hard to be positive.

I can’t pretend that I understood how she was feeling or what she was going through and she knew that. I’m sure that frustrated her but I hope she knew that I was there for her whenever she needed me and I would support her however I could.

Liz wanted so much to get better; she felt there were too many things out there that she wanted to do but realised she couldn’t in her condition.

She took herself to a specialist centre for eating disorders and also started to see a counsellor who understood how she was feeling a lot more than I did. Eventually, with a lot of help from professionals, support from family and friends and a great deal of self-determination, she made a remarkable recovery. I never thought I would see her eat sweets between meals or be happy to receive a chocolate egg at Easter, but I did.

After her own recovery she decided that she wanted to use her experiences to help other people. She went back to college and then university, attaining a degree in mental health nursing. She finished top of her year and also had papers published in a journal. She later went back to the university to help lecture students on eating disorders.

At first she used to hide the scars she had on her arms and legs from self-harming, but as time went on she didn’t bother. She accepted they were a part of her past, but she had moved on and just wanted to use her own experiences to help others dealing with similar problems.

Liz felt she had missed out on a lot while she was ill, so one of the first things she did when she was well enough was a skydive. She chose to do it for Mind as she wanted to help other people with mental health problems. She absolutely loved it.

A few years later, she abseiled down the Mersey Tunnel, once again raising money for Mind. Last summer she signed up to do the Three Peaks Challenge, as she had always wanted to do it and she wanted to do something that would test her stamina as well as her bravery. Unfortunately she died in a car accident before she got to do it.

When Liz died I thought a lot about how much she had crammed into the few adult years of her life for which she was well, and of how much she had done for other people. So I decided that, along with my brother and sister, I would climb the Three Peaks for her and raise as much money for Mind as I could to make her proud.

The group has grown and there are now about 20 of us climbing one or more of the peaks including family, friends, staff and students from the university she went to. We are going to take some of her ashes up with us to ensure she still makes it to the top.

I don’t think I will ever be as inspirational as Liz was, and still is, but hopefully the Three Peaks is just the start for me.

Rachel Hampson

Visit the Mind memory space that Liz's family and friends set up, where you can read more about her inspirational life and support Rachel on her Three Peaks Challenge.

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6 Comments

• rachel replied on 5 Jul 2012 at 11:37

  nicely written Rachel, Liz was a very inspirational person, a loving friend who I miss dearly, memories are treasured xxx

• Erin replied on 5 Jul 2012 at 14:22

  Amazing story, i'm so glad she had those years to realise some of her dreams.

• Kirstie replied on 6 Jul 2012 at 12:23

  Wow, what an amazing person she was to come through and achieve all she did and realise at least some of her dreams. Very well written. It must be tough without her but I'm sure she'd be proud of you helping achieve her goal of the three peaks challenge and fundraising for Mind. Very well done.

• honest replied on 6 Jul 2012 at 12:23

  Rachel
  I have felt so moved reading about your sister - an incredibly special person. I suffered from anorexia and self harm in the past and still have the inner and external scars. It is so very hard to recover especially as fully as she did, that is unusual and must have taken a great deal of bravery. No doubt your family support was instrumental too. Liz was an inspiration to overcome all she did and then go even further in life. I hope that you can continue to celebrate her life and I am sure many people reading this will remember her story. Good luck in your three peaks challenge and for all your inspiration (which comes from yourself as well as your sister). I really want to wish you well in your life challenges and your sister would be proud of you too - and so grateful that you continue her excellent work and impression made on others. .

• Rachel replied on 6 Jul 2012 at 12:23

  Thank you Erin. When Liz died one of the things that kept us going was that she went out on a high. Just a few weeks before she died she had tried fencing and archery for the first time. At least we know she died happy.

• Rachel replied on 9 Jul 2012 at 14:55

  Thank you for your kind comments Kirstie and honest. I hope Liz is really proud of us all. It will be one of the biggest achievements of my life to get to the top of the 3 peaks and I wouldn't have been doing it if it hadn't been for Liz sigining up to do it. I hope this is just the start and we can keep doing things in Liz's memory for a long time to come.