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Cycling for a Cause: Eating Disorder Treatment and Awareness
My name is Tara and I am a third year social work student at the University of Northern British Columbia. I am also a survivor of anorexia and bulimia. After spending nearly a decade in and out of treatment facilities in both Canada and the US, I am now an advocate for establishing a residential treatment facility in Canada and feel strongly that no person should have to travel far from home to get the help they need. The time I spent away from my family and friends was just as painful as the years I spent in the throes of my illness and I want to ensure that no one else should have to experience what I went through.
I started to cycle this summer in an effort to establish a more positive relationship with my body. As my strength has grown over the past few months, my confidence has grown and I am learning to appreciate the incredible resilience of the human body and soul. When I heard that one of my close friends from treatment lost her battle with this illness, I knew it was time for me to take the next step in my recovery journey and saw cycling as the venue to social change. I decided I wanted to cycle from where I live in northern British Columbia down to a camp I was planning to volunteer at in the southern end of the province, a 800km journey. This camp is run by the BC Looking Glass Foundation, an organization that advocates for residential eating disorder treatment in Canada. The camp is for young people currently struggling with eating disorders, and I see my involvement as a way to share my recovery with those who are still struggling with this illness.
My biggest hope is that by sharing my story and demonstrating that it is not shameful but in fact empowering to speak out, I will encourage those who are currently suffering in silence to reach out for help before it is too late. I am living proof that recovery is possible and I hope by raising awareness of the urgency of this issue I will force politicians and Canadians to put eating disorder treatment back on the political agenda. I refuse to lose another friend to this illness and I will fight to ensure that all who struggle have an equal opportunity for health and healing.
Please feel free to visit my website at http://rally4recovery.com or e-mail me at rally4recovery@gmail.com.
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