Emily Titterington, 16, died from a heart attack caused by constipation, an inquest heard last Tuesday. She had a phobia of going to the toilet and had been known to refrain from passing stools for up to 2 months. She is believed to have suffered from
‘stool withholding’ and would go for up to 8 weeks without using the toilet.
Eventually Emily’s bowel grew so large it compressed her chest cavity and caused the displacement of other organs. She collapsed at her home in St Austell, Cornwall, on February 8, 2013, and later died. The inquest heard how her life could have been saved with appropriate treatment but she had refused to be medically examined. Home Office pathologist, Dr Amanda Jeffery, said her symptoms were in-keeping with a condition known as “stool withholding”, which is more frequent in children…… and some shy 9ja “big” girls……