An Eating Disorder Nearly Took Her Life. Ursula Chose Recovery.

Ursula lived with an eating disorder for decades before severe malnutrition led to a heart attack, organ failure, and a coma. Recovery gave her another chance at life, while a WithAll Recovery Support Program grant helped ease the financial strain of staying in treatment. Today, she is sharing her story so others understand both the seriousness of eating disorders and the possibility of recovery.

A Life-Changing Wake-Up Call

For most of her life, Ursula lived with an eating disorder.

What began at a young age evolved over decades into different behaviors: binge eating, restriction, binge and purge cycles, and excessive exercise. Over time, the disorder intensified, eventually leading to severe restriction and dangerous malnutrition.

In January 2024, Ursula’s body reached a breaking point.

She fell into a coma after suffering a heart attack and multiple organ failure due to severe malnutrition. Doctors did not expect her to survive.

When Ursula woke up, she had a feeding tube in place and was being closely monitored for possible brain damage. She had survived something doctors feared she would not.

That moment also gave Ursula something she had not expected: another chance to choose recovery.

Realizing What Was at Stake

After waking from the coma, Ursula entered eating disorder treatment.

At first, she did not know what to expect. After living with an eating disorder for decades, denial had made it difficult to fully see how serious the illness had become.

Treatment changed her perspective.

Ursula began to understand that recovery was not simply about changing behaviors around food or exercise. It was about whether she would have a future at all.

“Without recovery, I wouldn’t have life,” she shared.

For the first time, recovery became her top priority.

Recovery Came With a Financial Cost

Choosing recovery was essential, but it did not make the practical realities of treatment disappear. Intensive care can require significant time and attention, while groceries, housing, and other everyday expenses continue.

For Ursula, financial pressure became another part of an already difficult recovery journey.

“This journey comes at a financial cost, and WithAll was there to support me in my journey.”

That support came through WithAll’s Recovery Support Program.

How the Recovery Support Program Helped

Ursula received financial assistance from the Recovery Support Program while she was in treatment. The grant helped reduce some of the pressure surrounding everyday expenses so she could continue focusing on healing.

The support did not replace treatment or make recovery easy. It helped create more stability around the difficult work Ursula was already doing.

For Ursula, the people behind that support matter too.

Using Her Second Chance to Help Others

Today, Ursula is using her experience to help other people understand how serious an eating disorder can become.

Her story spans decades. It includes denial, severe illness, a medical crisis doctors did not expect her to survive, and the difficult decision to make recovery her priority.

Now, sharing that story has become part of what comes next.

Ursula hopes her experience can reach someone who may still feel trapped in an eating disorder or who has not yet recognized how much it is taking from their life. She also wants others to understand that eating disorders can affect people at any age and can continue for years when the right support is not available.

Most importantly, Ursula’s story shows that even after decades of illness and an extraordinary medical crisis, recovery can still offer a way forward.

She nearly lost her life to an eating disorder. Now she is using that life to help someone else see that recovery is worth choosing.

Help Someone Keep Choosing Recovery

Ursula received support at a moment when recovery had become essential. Other people in treatment are facing the same combination of medical, emotional, and financial pressure today.

Donations to WithAll’s Recovery Support Program help turn generosity into something practical: groceries, housing, and greater stability while someone focuses on getting well.

Just $18 provides one day of groceries to someone with a life-threatening eating disorder. A small gift can become real-world support at a moment when it matters enormously.

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