This is the desperately sad story of the thinnest woman in the world who weighs just four stone after years of extreme dieting.
But rather than feel sorry for herself, Valeria Levitin says her emaciated figure should be a severe wake-up call for girls wanting matchstick-thin figures.
At 5ft 8in, she should weigh between 9st and 12st, according to NHS advice. Instead, she is a tiny 4st 3lbs, less than half of what her lightest healthy weight should be.
Valeria Levitin is a walking skeleton after years of anorexia reduced her weight to just four stone
Valeria aged 19, on holiday in Mexico. She developed the eating disorder as a teenager and has now chosen to speak out about how the illness has ruined her life
What is most worrying is that Valeria, originally from Russia but who now lives in Monaco, says she gets fan mail from girls desperate to copy her skeletal look.
The 39-year-old told The Sun: ‘I have received emails from young girls who want me to teach them how to be like me.
‘All the letters I’ve had are from women, mainly in their twenties, who see me as some kind of inspiration.’
As a result, she has taken the brave step to speak out about her condition and campaign against anorexia – and says she refuses to teach young girls how to die.
She says she wants to share her story to prevent other people falling victim to the same fate, saying anorexia has made her ‘lonely, unattractive and repulsive for the people around me’
Valeria, pictured as she is today, was banned from ballet at the age of 24 over concerns she would injure herself as she weighed just six stone
Valeria, here aged 11, believes the roots of her condition lie with her mother, who was terrified she would grow up obese like her relativesShe believes the roots of her condition lie with her mother, who was terrified Valeria would grow up obese like her relatives. Even as a young child, her diet was curtailed.
Valeria was weighed often to ensure she hadn’t gained any weight, such was her mother’s drive for perfection.
At 16, and weighing 10st, Valeria moved to Chicago with her parents. Desperate to fit in at a new school, she thought that if she lost weight, she would be accepted and liked.
As a result, she restricted her diet even further, cutting out sugar or carbohydrates.
The irony today is that, having cut out certain foods for so long, her body is intolerant to them and could not process them even if she wanted to.
When a classmate made a cruel comment about Valeria’s figure, she became even more determined to lose weight.
She said: ‘We were playing football and during the game a man said, “I know how we can win. We need to put Valeria’s big ar*e in the goal”. It shattered my whole world.’
By the time she was 23, Valeria’s dress size had plummeted from a healthy size 12 to a tiny size six.
Deciding to become a model made the situation even worse, as she was told she was still too fat to succeed. As her weight continued to plummet, by the age of 24 and weighing just six stone, she was banned from dancing over concerns she would injure herself.
It has been so long since Valeria ate bread that she can no longer remember what it tastes likeFor the next ten years she saw more than 30 health specialists, though once dipped to a dangerously low 3st 10lbs. Today, even if she wanted to eat certain foods, she would be unable to.
Many foods have to be avoided because they don’t agree with her body any more. It has been so long since she ate bread that she can no longer remember what it tastes like. Her illness has also made her life a very lonely one. Single for a decade, she says relationships are difficult as she is unable to do the normal things that couples do, as going to restaurants.
Now, she believes she cannot be cured simply by going to a doctor, having never gained weight after seeing a specialist.
Aged 23, she decided to become a model, but suffered further set-backs after being told she was too big
Rather, she says the problem is more about a ‘lack of harmony between body and soul’.
Today Valeria takes supplements to counter the risk of bruising and avoids situations where she could fall.
And she believes the solution could lie in moving back to Moscow – where she feels more at ease with herself – and trying to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a mother via a surrogate.
For the incentive of wanting a child could be a trigger to get healthy again, she says. It is something she feels she can do if she can get herself healthy.
A dangerous role model
Yet the 37-year-old who was once a healthy-looking, fuller-figured woman, wants the graphic images of her circulating around the Internet to be posted carefully. She’s afraid it’s going to send a positive message about anorexia and that it may even encourage girls already prone to the disease to see her as a role model.
“I am not going to teach them how to die. It is not a game, it is not a joke, it is your life,” Levitin said.
She’s now campaigning against the disease, saying that she’s battled anorexia for almost 20 years, and that her eating disorder “robbed” her of life. She’s been single for 10 years and says she can’t participate in the normal activities of a relationship, like going to restaurants or parties.
Anorexia and competition
A spokesperson for UK eating disorder charity, Beat, said that young women with eating disorders may actually look up to Levitin for inspiration, and that the images of her may trigger competition among anorexics. Levitin consistently receives fan mail from girls asking her to teach them how to be thin.
“You can’t be shocked out of it, you can only be further drawn into it by trying to compete with anyone you think is thinner than you, better at it than you.”
One young woman who wrote to Beat said that these types of images don’t surprise anorexics anymore.
“Shock is not a cure, but what it does do is make me feel as if I am ‘not really anorexic.’”
Levitin discusses the struggle of having a disease that makes people not want to be around her. She hopes that she can be an example of what not to do.
“I want young people to live happy, healthy and meaningful lives,” she said.
