Also on Sixty Minutes was the tale of twins who have been battling anorexia since the age of 14, a battle that had raged for 20 years. These people told of how anorexia kills, that they wanted to die, that they were so fat at 34 kg, that they ran to lose weight, that they ate a slice of watermelon and twenty laxatives a day, that it was a struggle to get out of bed, that they lost weight to get attention, that if they died then people would learn that anorexia kills.

Their mother wept as they spoke.

The twins and their parents visited a clinic where they ran programs for people with this disease. The counselor was making progress with them. I thought it interesting that they were on a lounge with their parents, yet the twins huddled together down one end, holding hands. One twin had said that she was starting to feel a spark, a will to live. Then the other said, “But will you get up tomorrow and eat breakfast?” The light vanished from the eyes of the other twin.

I’ll just say that I was sad and angry.