With Love We Lost

With Love, We lost..

Hayley was a well behaved, well adjusted little girl who attracted attention for all the wrong reasons. 36 kilos at three years of age was not only a neon sign above her head, it was also dangerous for her health.

Hayley had a fall at her day care centre and had split her head open. The ambulance officers suggested we bypass our local emergency department and go straight to the plastic surgeon in a major Brisbane hospital, an hour away from our home. As soon as we went through the emergency doors, the criticism and inappropriate behavior from the medical staff was relentless. The first nurse put her hand over her mouth in mock horror to gain the attention of other medical staff. After we were settled in to an emergency bay, another nurse decided I needed a pep talk and through gritted teeth snarled "haven't you ever heard of salad". It was an embarrassing barrage of emotional abuse that I endured but the most devastating part was that Hayley, at only 3 years of age, was subjected to it all. However what was to come would leave me terrified. The nursing staff said that they would be calling the social worker and I was at high risk of leaving the hospital without my daughter because I was a neglectful Mother.

Although Hayley is now healthy, the pain and heartbreak that we had to go through together is written throughout this book. I believe this story should be shared for other parents facing these same issues with their obese or overweight children. This book addresses the need for Nutritional education to start in preparatory school and continue well into high school and beyond. If children (parents to) are given choices and are educated on what their bodies need nutritionally and physically, they will have a full understanding of their own health as they reach adulthood and hopefully, create a new, healthy message for generations to come.