Anna Hankins is a 15-year-old girl that weighs 380 pounds due to a rare genetic condition that makes her eat uncontrollably. However, she doesn’t lose her confidence, and now she’s won a pageant.
The teen from Louisville, Mississippi was diagnosed at the age of two with the Prader-Willi disorder, which is a strange and severe hereditary disorder that makes her gain weight quickly, according to the National Institute of Health. About 1 in every 15,000 children in the United States have this condition.
Anna was born prematurely and underweight, but soon developed a great desire to eat. Anna’s disorder has affected her family.
Her mother said they needed to lock the refrigerator and cupboards to keep her child away.
Her parents have to lock the fridge
The mother said that her daughter hasn’t been able to control herself since her childhood. She claimed that both she and her husband frequently wake up and find that Anna had gotten up in the middle of the night to prepare an entire cake.
Anna eats everything. There isn’t food she doesn’t like. She gets everything she can. She has even gotten in the garbage can. She has no control.
“When she was pretty much nothing, the main words out of her mouth were ‘I’m ravenous’ and the last ones were ‘I’m eager’”, said her mom, Jennifer. “We would clean her room and discover discharge sustenance wrappers and treat wrappers — anything she could get her hands on.”
The teen is currently on a 900-calorie-a day diet, but she can’t get thinner since her body doesn’t break down food in the proper way. She needs help to get dressed and requires oxygen to breathe properly. She can’t have sweets or fatty foods because that makes her gain weight very fast, despite her diet.
“I have Prader-Willi Syndrome and I get eager a considerable measure. It can be hard to manage some of the time,” Anna told SWNS.
The Prader-Willi syndrome is an incurable genetic disorder. It leads to low muscle tone, short stature, and chronic eating.
Miss Amazing pageant
Something that has helped Anna to remain confident is competing in the Miss Amazing pageant, which is a contest for ladies and girls with handicaps. Ana says she adores Miss Amazing because of the singing, the cosmetics and all the beauty in it. Anna has been in the pageant world since she was in fourth grade when she started participating. She has competed on three occasions and has won the title each time.
“The greatest confusion individuals have in regards to individuals with inabilities is that they can’t lead full, captivating lives”, explained Lori Brasfield-Sanders, who is the chief of Miss Amazing Mississippi. “Anna is an astonishing representative; she is exceptionally prominent and she adores partaking.”
Her mother says she cries every time she sees Anna on stage. She says Miss Amazing helps her with her self-esteem and seeing other girls with special needs allows Anna to know she is not alone.
Source: Week Facts