92 year-old Mary beat Emetophobia after 75 years of suffering!

Mary has been a massive inspiration to so many Emetophobia sufferers and is a huge advocate for the programme.

In her many years of suffering Mary tried many different types of treatment, including being an inpatient at the Warlingham Park Psychiatric Hospital in the 1950s where she received electric shock treatment.

Mary attended the very first National Emetophobia Awareness Day 10 years ago in 2014. She has also caught up with Rob Kelly, creator of Emetophobia-Free, a couple of times since, including during lockdown.

Alive and thriving

We are thrilled that Mary was able to join us again to conclude our 10 day anniversary event! In this fabulously informative and uplifting episode, Mary explains that she fell through a glass panel last week and her head is glued together, so that she is currently finding it difficult to wash her hair.

Mary also tells us that after a bad fall last year in February she broke 6 of her ribs, and the doctors found a growth on her lungs that they couldn’t remove as it is almost touching her heart. She is currently living with (and thriving through!) cancer. Mary explains that she now refers to herself as ‘Wombat’, which stands for ‘Wiley Old Mary Alive And Thriving’. She explains that the programme has taught her not only how to cure herself of Emetophobia but how to effectively manage all the adversity that life brings.

Despite her cancer diagnosis, Mary is already planning her 100th birthday: “I’m going to live til I’m 100 at least and I’m going to have a smash up party!”

We can’t thank Mary enough, once again, for giving us her time and sharing her incredible story.