Meet the toddler who is so addicted to eating harmful objects that she ate an entire lightbulb. Natalie Hayhurst of Terre Haute, Indiana, is at constant risk of poisoning herself because of a rare condition which gives her cravings for inedible objects. In February the rambunctious three-year-old nearly died after eating a lightbulb that she tore from a bedroom night-light.
While her favorite delicacies are rocks and sticks, Natalie has been known to wolf down almost a whole brick, 'like it was a chocolate chip cookie'. Despairing mother Colleen, 31, says every day is a constant battle of wills as she tries to stop her daughter eating something that could kill her. Colleen said: "She doesn't try to eat glass so much since it hurt her, but she will try and eat rocks and sticks she finds in the garden.
"I have had to call this poison helpline so many times that it's on my speedial. You name it Natty's tried to eat it. Once when Natty took a bite out of a house plant at my mothers house and again when she ate a brick. She can eat a brick like a normal person would eat a chocolate chip cookie.
"She knows these things are bad for her, me and my husband David have discussed how harmful it is with her. But the cravings are too much for a three year old to handle. She will actively seek out this stuff even though she knows not to." Natalie has Pica, a condition characterised by an appetite for non-nutritive substances.
No comments:
Post a Comment