A woman who lives off a diet of digestive biscuits is trying to raise £80,000 so she can eat a full meal again.
Talia Sinnott has been diagnosed with gastroparesis, which means her stomach struggles to process food.
The condition leads the 25-year-old to vomit when she tries to eat and the only solid food she can cope with is digestive biscuits.
Flare-ups of the condition can leave her in ‘excruciating pain’ and being sick up to 10 times a day every time she tries to eat.
Her family are trying to raise £80,000 for a gastric pacemaker, which would send impulses to her stomach muscles to allow her to digest food.
Talia, from Wolverhampton, said: “It is a very difficult condition to live with. If I eat or drink pretty much anything at the moment I am often left in a lot of pain or with severe nausea or just throwing up.”
It means she is almost totally reliant on a feeding tube to provide the nutrients she needs.
Talia’s gastroparesis – a long-term condition where the stomach cannot empty in the normal way – went undiagnosed for years.
Her symptoms began in 2018 but Talia’s illness was so rare doctors did not seem to know what was going on.
“I would eat a meal and it would almost feel like it was sat in my chest for ages after I had eaten, I almost felt I needed to be sick to relieve the pain,” she said.
She can only have a couple of biscuits “here and there”.
“But that’s pretty much it. That’s why I am reliant on my tube to give me all the nourishment I need,” she added.
Her dad Peter Sinnott said: “At the moment, a digestive biscuit is her main diet. She can barely drink, she takes little sips of water throughout the day.
“As a family, we are obviously very concerned and it’s extremely painful to see her in the state she is in.”
The 68-year-old, who has previously lost a child, added: “That obviously makes what Talia is going through far more painful for us as parents.
“We have lost one and we don’t want to lose another. It’s difficult.”
