Learning to eat well helped Hazel Wallace heal after dad's death

When her father died from a stroke at the dinner table, Hazel Wallace was devastated.

Aged just 15 at the time she was overcome with grief and as a result of her shock refused to eat.

She survived on just mouthfuls of food and within months was dangerously ill.

“I lost a lot of weight after my dad Kevin died. It wasn’t because I wanted to look a certain way but because I found no joy in anything any more,” says Hazel, who grew up in County Louth, Ireland.

 “I was so sad. Everything I knew, my foundations and stability, collapsed.”

By the time she was 16 Hazel weighed just six stone and her GP warned she would be hospitalised if she didn’t gain weight.

“I knew I looked thin. It made me uncomfortable and it upset people. But I just didn’t know how to get better,” she says.

“I genuinely felt too awful to put food in my mouth and chew. It became a chore I couldn’t face.”

However Hazel, now 26, knew she needed to get better if she was to follow her dream of becoming a doctor.

“I wanted to get into medicine to protect myself and the people I loved the way I hadn’t been able to do for dad,” she says.

Her worried mum Jo took her to a dietitian and over the next year Hazel followed a strict diet of calorie-rich, nutritious food.

At 18 she was back to a healthy eight-and-a-half stone.

However it was the mental change that surprised Hazel the most.

“Once I started eating well I had energy and strength. I was still grieving but I had hope again,” she says.

“I realised how important it is to nourish both the body and mind with good food.”

Taught by her mum, Hazel learned how to cook healthy homemade meals and started gentle exercise.

She created an Instagram account The Food Medic to chart her progress.

“When having a bad day I would stay motivated by posting my food and healthy eating tips,” she says.

Inspiring others with her determination, her posts soon became popular and she has now amassed more than 140,000 followers.

In 2016 a determined Hazel reached her goal.

A decade after her father passed away she graduated from Cardiff University after studying medicine and is now working as a junior doctor in London.

Hazel says being able to achieve her dream career has made her more determined than ever to spread the word about the power of nutritious food.

“I want to show people how important it is to eat well and inspire them to get back into the kitchen,” she says.

“I know how crucial it is to eat good food, not just for your physical health but for mental health too.”

To order a copy of The Food Medic by Dr Hazel Wallace (£20, Yellow Kite) call the Express Bookshop on 01872 562 310 or visit expressbookshop.co.uk