This Crazy Life

This isn’t completely my story to tell.  But at the same time, it sheds light on the reality of this disease.  A patient at ERC Denver ran away Sunday afternoon.  They went out for fresh air break and she ran.  14 years old.  Downtown Denver.  No phone.  No money.  Nothing but the clothes on her back.  But that was the safer option than remaining in treatment.  And no, this isn’t a once in a million incident.  It happens a lot more than you would ever imagine.  They called the police and reported her as a runaway.  They called her parents.  Who understandably freaked the f out.  You’re halfway across the country and your child is missing.  I honestly can’t even imagine getting that phone call.  Luckily my daughter has not been a runner from a facility.  She’s run from our house.  And we live in the country on land.  So, she was “safe” but we still couldn’t find her for a couple of hours.  Anyway, back to this story, she was brought back around midnight that night.  She told my daughter at one point she regretted running but then she was stuck and didn’t know what to do.  She sat outside an apartment complex and a man eventually asked her if she needed help.  They called her parents.  The police came and took her back.   But I hope this helps to paint the despair and level of destress this disease creates for these kids.  It’s so much more and so much deeper than “wanting to be skinny”.