Billy Turner Young British man with selective eating disorder Country: Great Britain

A Biography of Billy Turner

Billy Turner, a young British boy with selective eating disorder, overcame cancer as a schoolboy by eating nothing but garlic bread for eight years after chemotherapy treatment developed a fear of other foods in him. Now 11 years old, Billy Turner from Manchester became obsessed with garlic bread after his treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, which left him unable to digest anything else. Eight years later, the boy still refuses to eat a balanced diet. His desperate mother, 32-year-old Louise Blackshaw, sought the help of a hypnotherapist in hopes of helping her son overcome his strange phobia. Experts claim that many cancer patients actually experience eating problems after chemotherapy, as the disease and its treatment can affect the cells in the throat. Patients can experience discomfort when chewing and swallowing food. It is believed that Billy's eating disorder was caused by his treatment. Blackshaw said, "When Billy went through chemotherapy, he said he started feeling strange. He explained that he literally felt the food moving inside his throat." "My son added that only garlic bread didn't cause him discomfort, so he only ate that. I was just glad that he could eat anything at all." "But now, eight years later, Billy continues to refuse everything except bread."