Eating Disorder Killed Former Head Girl

---

Georgia Willson-Pemberton collapsed at parents' home in Putney

An inquest has heard how a beautiful and intelligent young woman from Putney succumbed to an eating disorder which took her life in December of last year.

26 year old Georgia Willson-Pemberton, had been the head girl of Heathfield School in Ascot and a child ski-champion. Whilst at business school in 2008 she started to suffer from an eating disorder and her weight dropped to seven stone dangerously low for somebody 5ft 11' tall. The court heard how she bought more than 6,000 laxatives online and how excess consumption of them was the cause of her death.

Her parents had paid for treatment in specialist centres including a three month stay at the Monte Nido Centre in California and at the Priory Clinic in Roehampton. Despite this she failed to regain weight and as she regularly fooled doctors by smuggling in pills. Her mother, who the court heard was 'a brilliant carer', brought Georgia home to look after her.

She was at her parents' home on Howards Lane when she collapsed. She was admitted to hospital but died of organ failure. She told doctors at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital that she had taken 50 laxatives some days earlier. A medical expert told the court that she believe that chronic laxative abuse had caused the organ damage that killed her.

Assistant deputy coroner Darren Stewart said Miss Willson-Pemberton had died after the overdose caused multiple organ failure. After the verdict her father questioned how it was possible for his daughter to have bought such a large quantity of potentially lethal medicine without any checks such as those that are in place for painkillers.