Ever since she was a toddler, Stacey Irvine has eaten little else but chicken nuggets and the occasional portion of chips.
Now, at the age of 17, she has been warned by doctors to change her appalling diet or die.
The
factory worker – who says she has never tasted fresh fruit or
vegetables – had to be taken to hospital earlier this week when she
collapsed after struggling to breathe.
Killing herself: Stacey Irvine, 17, eats little
else apart from chicken nuggets. She recently collapsed after struggling
to breathe and was rushed to hospital
Doctors found that her 15-year ‘chronic chicken nugget addiction’ has left her with anaemia and inflamed veins on her tongue.
So deficient was her body in vitamins and nutrients that she had to be injected with them.
Although she has been urged to drastically change her diet, she says she cannot give up the fast food.
Favourite restaurant: Miss Irvine outside her local McDonald's in Birmingham
Stacey,
who is recovering at home on a high-dose course of vitamins, has been
hooked on chicken nuggets since her mother let her try them in a
McDonald’s restaurant at the age of two.
‘I
loved them so much they were all I would eat,’ she said. ‘I just
couldn’t face even trying other foods. Mum gave up giving me anything
else years ago.’
The
teenager, of Castle Vale, Birmingham, admits she will occasionally vary
her food intake – by eating a slice of toast for breakfast or a packet
of crisps.
Yet following her admission to hospital, she has conceded that the diet is having a negative impact on her health.
‘I am starting to realise this is really bad for me,’ she said. ‘My main meal is always chicken nuggets every day.
‘McDonald’s chicken nuggets are my favourite. I share 20 with my boyfriend with chips.
‘But I also like KFC and supermarket brands.’
A
less serious consequence of her craving is that she is struggling to
store all the free toys that come with the fast food meals, she added –
they fill four bin bags.
Stacey’s
mother, Evonne, is exasperated by her daughter’s refusal to eat a
healthy and varied diet and wants her to see a specialist.
‘She’s been told in no uncertain terms that she will die if she carries on like this,’ the 39-year-old explained.
‘But Stacey says she can’t eat anything else. It breaks my heart to see her eating those damned nuggets.
‘I am at my wit’s end. I’m praying she can be helped before it’s too late.’
The
beauty therapist – who says her two other children Leo, five, and Ava,
three, both eat healthily – has even tried depriving Stacey of food in a
bid to get her to eat something other than nuggets.
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