Amy Winehouse’s Brother Blames Her Death On Bulimia Which Makes Me Even Sadder For Her
Even though the coroner’s report listed “alcohol toxicity” as the official cause of the death for über-talented chanteuse Amy Winehouse at age 27, her older brother recently told The Observer that bulimia would have killed her before her time anyway. From The Independent:
The singer’s older brother Alex Winehouse, 33, said in an interview that years of suffering from bulimia left Amy ”weaker and more susceptible” to the physical impact of her alcohol and drug addictions.
”She would have died eventually, the way she was going,” Alex told the Observer. “But what really killed her was the bulimia”¦ Had she not had an eating disorder, she would have been physically stronger.”
”She suffered from bulimia very badly. That’s not, like, a revelation- you knew just by looking at her,” he said.
She was influenced, he said, by her peers, who were ”all doing it”, at the age of 17. ”They’d put loads of rich sauces on their food, scarf it down and throw it up. They stopped doing it, but Amy never really did,” he said.
Just looking at Amy, from the time between she first became known when 2003’s Frank was released, from when she died you could see that she had lost a great deal of weight, which I always assumed was due to drug use. I’m sure alcohol use had something to do with it too, but I can remember at the height of her fame seeing photographs of her where she seemed so incredibly skinny and frail, it was amazing she even had energy to perform. This isn’t a startling revelation, according to the National Eating Disorders Association, the incidence of bulimia in 10-39 year old women tripled between 1988 and 1993, it’s a very common disease. It can cause electrolyte imbalances, ulcers and heart failure. And I can’t think of a single woman I have ever known that didn’t have some form of disordered eating or another. It’s just sad to think that this also contributed to her far too early death. her brother has been granting interviews because the Winehouse Foundation, which gives money towards raising awareness for young people about alcohol and drug abuse, are planning an exhibition of family photographs and objects belonging to the singer for exhibition at the Jewish Museum in London next month. And from The Guardian:
“Do you have a sister?” he asks me when I wonder what Amy was like. I nod. “Then you’ll know. She was annoying, frustrating, a pain in the bum. But she was also incredibly generous, very caring. She’d do anything for anyone, she really would. She was loyal as a sister, daughter and friend. She was probably the most loyal friend to people I’ve ever known.” Later, he adds: “She was a really good person. And horrible in other respects.”
It’s still so sad that she is gone, and sadder still when you think about her battling an eating disorder on top of everything else. You can donate to the Winehouse foundation here.
(Image: twitter)
