Can sadness eat you away? Rapid weight loss kills woman after shedding 140 pounds in a year

A 30-year-old woman, who lost more than 60 kilograms in just one year, passed away due to the profound physical strain caused by her rapid weight loss as a result of being aneroxic.

Kaylee Cox had gained significant weight throughout her life, reaching a weight of 137 kilograms by early 2021, as disclosed during an inquiry into her death. At the time of her passing, Kaylee's weight was 74 kilograms.

Her mother, Christine Cox, shared with the court that her daughter was a "crazy, funny, bubbly person." However, Kaylee's demeanour began to change following the death of her grandmother in May 2021.

According to Christine, "Kay lost her spark as we all did," and she started encountering issues related to her eating habits, such as repeatedly slapping the top of her chest as if struggling with food passage.

As Kaylee's ability to consume food and liquids deteriorated, she underwent a gastroscopy, but medical professionals could not identify any underlying issues. Concerned for her well-being, the family implored doctors to admit her to the hospital as an emergency case, yet their pleas went unheard.

Christine recounted, "The doctor even tried telling me she was anorexic, she was not eating properly," and mentioned that Kaylee had a persistent belief that she was attempting to put her hands down her throat.

Ian Wade KC, the assistant coroner for Berkshire, acknowledged that there had been fluctuations in Kaylee's weight over time, saying, "I think Kaylee has always had problems with her weight and there were times where she ballooned."

The inquest revealed that at the age of seven, Kaylee weighed 31 kilograms, significantly above the UK average for girls of that age, which is approximately 22 kilograms. 

Her weight had increased to 95 kilograms by the age of 14 and reached 137 kilograms in her late twenties, resulting in a body mass index (BMI) of 48, well above the healthy range of 20 to 25. Wade expressed deep concern over these figures, emphasising the various challenges faced by individuals with excess weight.

On August 30th of the previous year, while at home with her family, Kaylee suddenly needed to use the restroom. Tragically, her relatives later discovered her dead in the bathroom. A post-mortem examination was unable to determine the exact cause of her death but suggested a cardiac arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat, as a likely contributor.

In closing the inquest at Reading Coroner's Court, Wade said, "I think the rapid nature of that weight loss has got a lot to do with why we have lost her. We know that Kay had been struggling with excess weight for a long time and she either addressed that by being determined or nature, in some way, helped her by creating a circumstance where she found it difficult to keep things down. 

That kind of rate of weight loss creates real turmoil in the body, and my feeling is that this was what was going on, and there were difficulties in her body being able to cope with her see-sawing."