Cheshire mother installs GATE in her kitchen to stop daughter from eating herself to death

A mother says she has been forced to seal off her kitchen with a  garden gate to stop her daughter from gorging until her stomach ruptures.

Molly Bywater, five, suffers from Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterised by obsessive eating, learning difficulties and growth abnormalities.

Her mother, Jo, 29, said her family have to live ‘on lock down,’ with plastic locks fitted onto all the kitchen cupboards and food positioned out of her daughter’s reach.

The part-time accounts and marketing assistant from Congleton, Cheshire, resorted to using heavy garden gates earlier this year, after Molly worked out how to get through, under, over or around five different stair gates.

Molly Bywater, five, suffers from Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterised by obsessive eating and growth abnormalities

Her mother Jo says it means she’s had to put a gate on the kitchen and a lock on the fridge to stop her daughter from eating herself to death

And the ‘mini Houdini’ can’t be left alone, in case she outwits Mrs Bywater’s security measures and gets to the food – eating so much it could be life-threatening.

‘She feels ridiculously starving all the time and would eat continuously if she could, until her stomach ruptured. That’s how dangerous it is,’ she said. 

‘We are on lockdown all the time and, when she’s older, we’ll probably have to install alarms in the kitchen.

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‘She’ll go for whatever is available. She doesn’t pick and choose, or have favourite kinds of food, she eats anything and everything in sight.’

Molly’s syndrome was diagnosed in March 2011 at Peterborough City Hospital, when she was three weeks old.

Born without holes in her nostrils, she had to be resuscitated at birth, spending 36 hours on a ventilator, until she breathed independently.

Medics explained that Molly had bilateral choanal atresia, a narrowing or blocking of the nasal airway by tissue at birth.

Molly Bywater has no control over her eating and never feels full meaning she would eat until her stomach ruptures if she was not supervised

Molly worked out how to get through, under, over or around five different stair gates, causing her mother to take drastic action and fit a garden gate

A week later, she was moved to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, for surgery to drill holes through her nose and insert nose stents – tubes used to keep the nostrils open while healing takes place.

HOW PRADER-WILLI SYNDROME IS CAUSED BY GENETIC DEFECT

Prader-Willi syndrome is a rare genetic condition that causes problems including constant urges to eat food, restricted growth and reduced muscle tone.

Other potential issues include learning difficulties, lack of sexual development and behavioural problems such as tantrums or stubbornness.

The rare condition, which affects one in every 15,000 children born in England, is caused by a defect on chromosome number 15 – and happens by chance.

Because there is no cure, treatment aims to manage the symptoms – with parents of sufferers urged to get their children to stick to a healthy, balanced diet.

Children with the syndrome can eat up to six times more than children of the same age – and still feel hungry. 

It was first described in 1956 by Swiss doctors A Prader, A Labhart and H Willi. 

She had repeat surgery aged two and four, at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, and may need further operations in the future, if her nostrils start to close up again.

Her Prader-Willi diagnosis was made during blood tests for her bilateral choanal atresia at Addenbrooke’s.

‘Doctors told me the worst case scenario – that she wouldn’t walk or talk until she was five and that she’d have a lot of learning difficulties.

‘I blamed myself for a few weeks, because I had given birth to her, but counsellors helped me while we were in hospital. 

‘At school, if she finds a loaf of bread, she’ll eat slices and slices, so now she can’t be left alone and has full time supervision to ensure that doesn’t happen.

‘She managed to sneak into a food technology room the other day, though, pretending she was just going to get her coat and started eating bread before she was caught.’

Everywhere they go, the first thing Molly does is scan for food and she manages to find it under sofas and down the sides of furniture.

‘She has eaten mouldy food out of the bin before and will have proper meltdowns when we take food off her.

‘She constantly asks, ”When is lunch?” or, ”When is dinner?” even though she has just eaten.

She had to be resuscitated at birth, spending 36 hours on a ventilator, until she breathed independently after being born without holes in her nostrils

Molly had surgery to drill holes through her nose and insert nose stents – tubes used to keep the nostrils open while healing takes place

Her condition means she is obsessed with food and will eat anything she comes across, including mouldy food from down the side of the sofa

‘Everything revolves around food and she’ll even wake up at 2am, asking if it’s time for breakfast yet.’

Mrs Bywater said she’s scared to think ahead, to what will happen when Molly’s older and has more access to food.

‘It’s frightening, because there’s no cure for it,’ she added.

‘It gives her anxiety, too, and she picks her skin until it bleeds.

‘We are unsure of what the future holds, but for now we are controlling it.’

An NHS statement said: ‘Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic condition that causes a wide range of problems.

These may include a constant desire to eat food, which seems driven by a permanent feeling of hunger.

‘Prader-Willi syndrome is caused by a genetic defect on chromosome number 15, which happens purely by chance.

‘There’s no cure for Prader-Willi syndrome, so treatment aims to manage the symptoms and associated problems. 

‘For parents, this includes dealing with their child’s excessive eating and behavioural problems.’