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Boy who has eaten nothing but sausages his whole life has finally been cured of his bizarre eating disorder

Boy who has eaten nothing but sausages his whole life has finally been cured of his bizarre eating disorder
Boy who has eaten nothing but sausages his whole life has finally been cured of his bizarre eating disorder

Story and video from SWNS

A teenage boy who has eaten nothing but SAUSAGES every mealtime for his entire life has been cured of his bizarre food phobia after being hypnotised over Facetime.

Ben Simpson, 15, would refuse to try anything other than a bland diet of plain Richmonds bangers washed down with glasses of water.

He developed his fear of food, known as ARFID, when mum Wendy Hughes, 55, tried to move him onto solid foods as a baby.

She has since forked out £60 a month on Richmonds skinless sausages - with Ben getting through four every meal and several packs of 16 each week.

Frustrated Wendy became so concerned about her son's health she turned to Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist David Kilmurry for help.

And she was left amazed after Ben began trying new foods for the first rime following just one hypnotherapy session on a Facetime phone call.

Mum-of-one Wendy, an Amazon warehouse worker from Swansea, said: "When he was a baby I weaned him off the bottles of milk and I started to feed him on solid food.

"I noticed that he wasn't eating what other children would eat.

"He would only eat finger food like chips and stuff like that. As he got older, he would stick to sausages.

"When he went to parties in school, the children's parents hired somewhere and then they would go out for food.

"All the other children would happily tuck into the food, except Ben. He would just sit there crying or he would refuse to go in where the food was.

"If we went to a friend's house he just wouldn't eat anything. He'd say he wasn't hungry and it was just a nightmare.

"It was sausages all the time. Specifically, Richmond sausages and they have to be skinless. He sometimes has chips or waffles but there always has to be sausages.

"He doesn't eat sweets or chocolate. He doesn't have fizzy drinks, just water.

"For each meal, I give him about four or five sausages. They come in packs of 16 and we go through a few of those a week. I get fed up with buying them.

"It is frustrating. Sometimes you just think 'oh god will you just eat it' but then Ben gets upset and teary. You have to have a lot of patience."

Wendy decided to try hypnotherapy after seeing David Kilmurry's services on Facebook and got in contact with him in August.

She added: "I knew I had to try something different. He is always moaning and complaining that he is tired.

"I came across David on Facebook after my friend suggested having Ben hypnotised.

"Because we live in Swansea and David is in Coventry, we did it all over Facetime.

"We had one session which was about two hours and then we did a follow-up appointment and that was it.

"I didn't think it would work as Ben wouldn't try any food at all. He wouldn't try a bite of anything.

"Now, if I give him something he will pop it straight into his mouth not before he asks me what it is.

"We are getting to the stage where he's not afraid to try things. Before, he just wouldn't at all. He would flat out refuse.

"Ben is 15 now and he can't eat this type of food forever. It's funny but there wasn't even any gravy or sauces. It was nothing but sausage.

"I have to say big thanks to David. Without him, I don't think we would have gotten anywhere."

Life coach David, who specialises in treating fussy eaters, said: "Bens mum Wendy initially contacted me as she was very worried about her son's health.

"They booked in during lockdown and were both initially sceptical. His phobia was extreme and it was a struggle enough to get him sat in front of the screen.

"She reached out as a last resort having been to GP's, specialists and nutritionists and left not knowing why her son wouldn't eat anything other than Richmond sausages.

"I knew straight away he had ARFID and diagnosed him there and then.

"The World Health Organisation is the authority on eating disorders and Brand Specific Safe Foods is a pretty straightforward diagnosis of the food phobia.

"Following the online hypnotism, I have had video after video from Wendy elated that her son can now eat anything he wants.

"Yesterday, a video of him eating fish said to me that he's cured. He has responded to the hypnosis beautifully.

"Fish for an ARFID sufferer is a no go. It produces retching and gagging at just the very thought of it.

"During the session, I use hypnotic subliminal wording and neurological seed drop wording to help my patients to open the mind to new foods.

"I want them to see it as exciting rather than panicking about how yucky it might be.

"Ben was sad that he couldn't keep up socially and lacked concentration and stamina as opposed to his peers at school.

"It's an honour to see Ben make such big leaps so quickly after treatment and a huge well done also to Wendy for her calm guidance.

"It's a full recovery as Ben now consumes anything put in front of him with minimal reluctance.

"I celebrated online with them both by eating a Bird's Eye super hot chilli which made me cry but kept him and his mum entertained."