Warning: This post is about anorexia nervosa and may be triggering for some readers.

Rachael Farrokh, the anorexia sufferer whose plea for help went viral this month, is due to begin treatment for her illness at a specialised clinic. Now, she’s released a video (scroll down to watch it) thanking her thousands of supporters.

As Mamamia previously reported, the aspiring actress  has been battling anorexia nervosa for 10 years. Her condition is now so severe, she spends her days and nights in a hospital bed inside her home.

Rachael and her husband Rod, before the illness consumed their lives. (Photo: Facebook)

Farrokh has also suffered from heart, liver and kidney failure, osteoporosis, blood clots and edema as a result of the debilitating eating disorder, and her husband Rod Edmondson cares for her full-time in their California home.

She appeared in a YouTube video earlier this month, describing the impact the eating disorder has had on her life (post continues after video):

Mr Edmondson simultaneously created a GoFundMe page seeking donations for his wife’s treatment — explaining that while she has previously spent time in several different treatment facilities, her condition is so severe that only one hospital in the country is able to accept her now.

“There is only one hospital in the country that specializes in re-feeding patients at such a low body weight and it’s my mission to get her there,” Mr Edmondson wrote. “If she receives too many calories her metabolism will kick up and she will lose even more weight.”

Rod and Rachael in the early years of their marriage. (Photo: Facebook)

It’s a heartbreaking story, but it’s one that might just have a happy ending.

That page raised almost $200,000 in just over three weeks, enabling Farrokh to begin treatment at the couple’s San Clemente, California home, CNN reports. Then when she builds up her strength by increasing her calorie intake, Farrokh will hopefully move to the ACUTE Center for Eating Disorders at the Denver Health Medical Center for treatment in Colorado.

Farrokh posted a new video to YouTube on Monday thanking everybody who donated to her cause.

“It’s been so overwhelmingly good in our lives, and I actually have a chance to live,” she said in the four-minute video. “What you guys have done has been amazing.”

She said she’d been contacted by others who’d suffered eating disorders and had resolved to seek treatment after seeing her first video.

“I want to let you know, not only have you saved my life, you saved other people’s lives,” she said.

Her treatment may take up three to five years, but Farrokh is confident that she now has the resources she needs to recover.

“I know I can do this,” a teary Farrokh said in the video. “I love you all, and thank you for everything.”

We wish her all the best on her road to recovery.

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