Madeleine Billings, of Denver, Colorado, died in her sleep on December 30, 2021, after years of struggling with an eating disorder. Now her parents, Nick and Lisa, have shared the harrowing details of her final days, explaining to the Today show in a new interview that she felt like Maddy wasn’t “there” anymore. “She was brilliant. But in the end she was psychotic. I mean, in the conversations I had with her in the last week of her life, Maddie wasn’t there. It was all sickness,” said 53-year-old Nick. The parents of a 23-year-old girl who died of anorexia after starving herself for “half her life” have revealed the horrific realities of her illness, admitting she was “brilliant” but “psychotic”. Madeleine Billings (pictured in 2013), of Denver, Colorado, died in her sleep on December 30, 2021, after years of battling an eating disorder Her parents, Nick and Lisa (pictured with Maddie in 2015), shared the harrowing details of her final days, explaining to the Today show that it felt like Maddie wasn’t “there” anymore. He explained that he was “obsessed” with accidentally taking a sip of a regular Dr. Pepper instead of a diet drink. “This mastermind was obsessed with Dr. Pepper and whether or not she accidentally took a sip of regular diet. And what did that mean? I’ve been talking to her for hours on end about this,” he continued. Lisa, 54, added that although her daughter was aware of the dangers of her condition, the ‘harsh and judgmental voices’ from the ‘eating disorder’ always ‘came back’. The parents said they first noticed something was wrong with Maddie when she was 13 years old. She had gone on a trip to France with her grandparents where she met another teenage girl with an eating disorder, which her parents said made an impression on her. Lisa, 54, added that although her daughter (seen together when she was 10) knew the dangers of her condition, the ‘harsh and judgmental voices’ always ‘came back’ The parents said they first noticed something was wrong with Maddie when she was 13 after watching soccer. Shown with friends in 2015 (left) and 2016 (right) “By the time we got her out of it, she had fallen so far [weight] that she just didn’t look like herself,” Lisa said Then, the summer before eighth grade, she went to a soccer camp, and when she came home, Nick and Lisa said they saw a big difference in their daughter. Her parents explained that they put her in therapy and she got better. But as she entered high school, the eating disorder returned. Photographed in 2013 “By the time we got her out of it, she had fallen so far [weight] that she just didn’t look like herself,” Lisa said. Her parents explained that they put her in therapy and she got better. But as she entered high school, the eating disorder returned. “It just started crawling back and we watched it come back. There was no denial around this disease at any point. We threw away everything we had,” her dad said. On the outside, her mom and dad said Maddie seemed completely normal – she was a student, played field hockey and soccer, and looked “deceptively healthy.” But inside, it was a daily struggle. Nick remembered how stressful dinner time could be, with him and Lisa forcing Maddy to eat. On the outside, her mom and dad said Maddie (seen on the left in 2014 and on the right in 2015) looked normal — she was a student, played field hockey and soccer, and seemed “healthy.” But inside, it was a daily struggle. Nick (seen with Maddie and another family member in 2015) recalled how stressful dinnertime could be as they had to force Maddie to eat At her lowest, Maddie (pictured with her siblings in 2015) dropped to 76kg as her parents tried their best to help her In addition to the eating disorder, she also suffered from anxiety. At her lowest point, Maddie dropped to 76kg as her parents tried everything they could to help her. Nick said, “We had her hospitalized. We had her at the outpatient clinic. We had her in therapy. We had put her on various medications. And it got worse.’ Maddie is depicted as a baby Nick said, “We had her hospitalized. We had her at the outpatient clinic. We had her in therapy. We had put her on various medications. And it got worse. I know conventional therapy, I guess, works for some, but it didn’t work for her.” When the pandemic hit in early 2020, her parents said Maddy — who was attending college at the University of Colorado after graduating high school — was getting worse as she often complained of feeling alone. During the last year of her life, her mom said Maddy “got a lot sicker,” explaining that she often passed out when she stood up because of her low heart rate. She said her gastrointestinal system had “shut down” and she was rushed to hospital three different times. During the last year of her life, her mother said Maddie (who appeared in 2015) “got a lot sicker”, explaining that she would often pass out when she stood up and was rushed to hospital three times. Now, Nick and Lisa are speaking out about her condition in the hope of warning other parents about the dangers of anorexia. “This disease will kill you,” her dad said. Maddie is considered a child “Really [felt] like our child was dying in front of us,” Nick recalls, with Lisa adding: “She was superwoman for so long, and then it was like the wheels came off and everything started to go wrong… “He was just physically a mess until the end.” She was on a waiting list at an eating disorder treatment center in Denver at the time of her death. Now, Nick and Lisa are speaking out about her condition in the hope of warning other parents about the dangers of anorexia. “If you have a kid who is really playing and you find a methodology, the alarm bells go off and you do something. But if you have the same kid and they don’t finish their meals or they only eat certain things, you get over it and say, ‘Oh, it’s not a big deal,’” Nick concluded. “This disease will kill you. It isolates you, starves you and kills you.’
The deadly eating disorder that ‘isolates you, starves you and kills you’: What is anorexia and how is it treated?
Anorexia is an eating disorder and a mental health condition. People diagnosed with this try to keep their weight as low as possible by eating little or exercising too much. Men and women can develop the disease, but it usually starts in the mid-teens. Those suffering from anorexia may have a distorted body image, thinking they are fat when in fact they are very underweight. The causes of the condition are unknown, but sufferers either have low self-esteem, have a family history of eating disorders, or feel pressure from society or the workplace. Long-term health complications can include muscle and bone problems, loss of sex drive, kidney or bowel problems, or a weakened immune system. Treatment for anorexia may include cognitive behavioral therapy.
