ONCE an aspiring Russian mannequin, Zhanna Samsonova ended up tragically dying in intensive care hundreds of miles from her dwelling.
Surprising outdated photos reveal a contented, healthy-looking Samsonova earlier than she embarked on a deadly mission to cease consuming water and survive on solely uncooked fruit.
The Russian nationwide – often known as Zhanna D’Art to her social media followers – died on July 21 removed from dwelling in a Malaysian hospital.
Her mom, Vera Samsonova, mentioned she had caught a “cholera-like an infection” – exacerbated by her eating regimen – simply hours earlier than she was as a result of fly dwelling from her travels.
The 39-year-old vegan influencer is feared to died from starvation and exhaustion after trying for years to stay off “solely fruits, sunflower seed sprouts, fruit smoothies and juices.”
Footage of the social media creator in her 20s reveals a smiling and more healthy younger lady who had hopes to be a profitable mannequin.
Evaluating it to the final photos of Samsonova earlier than her loss of life, it reveals the stark and painful toll that years of a uncooked fruit-only eating regimen took on her physique.
It comes as her 63-year-old mom, Vera, has informed of her heartbreaking final telephone dialog together with her daughter the place she begged her to return dwelling.
“Zhanna, you must go to Moscow,” the 63-year-old had pleaded.
“I understood that Zhanna was about to die, however nonetheless I couldn’t assist her in any manner. My daughter’s life has become a nightmare,” she informed Russian newspaper Novye Izvestiya.
The mom mentioned that she had “fought for years” to avoid wasting her troubled daughter however that she had refused to “take heed to her mom”.
Her daughter had left Russia in 2006 with no return ticket and spent the final 17 years travelling round Asia, training yoga and running a blog.
Within the months main as much as her loss of life, the approach to life influencer’s mates feared that her eating regimen was turning into more and more restrictive and her anorexia was getting worse.
One good friend, Olga Chernyaeva, defined how Samsonova may barely stroll when she noticed her final.
“I watched her journey to loss of life for seven years. About 5 months in the past, I met Zhanna in Sri Lanka and she or he had a haggard look.
“Her legs have been swollen… It was superb that she was nonetheless shifting – I believe she did it via ache.”
Chernyaeva added that she was compelled to helplessly watch as Samsonova – who refused to get remedy – turned to “solely bones” and was left bed-bound.
“She was in mattress for nearly a month. If she acquired up, it was very tough for her to stroll – it took a number of minutes to beat one step of the steps.”
The uncooked meals influencer additionally had beforehand touted on-line that her physique doesn’t “require” water.
“I’ve not drunk water for the final 6 years. This can be a frequent prevalence in those that are on a fruit eating regimen,” she wrote on Instagram post from final yr.
“This isn’t one thing that I restrict or restrain myself, it is simply that my physique doesn’t require it,” she added.
One other good friend reported how seeing Samsonova a number of months in the past had left her “horrified”.
“Her fingers have been like these of my 12-year-old sister, skinny,” they informed Russian information outlet 116.ru.
“A couple of months in the past, in Sri Lanka, she already seemed exhausted.
“They despatched her dwelling to hunt remedy. Nevertheless, she ran away once more. After I noticed her in Phuket, I used to be horrified.
“I lived one ground above her and every single day I feared discovering her lifeless physique within the morning. I satisfied her to hunt remedy, however she did not make it.”
Samsonova often promoted her fruit-only eating regimen on-line, telling her 16,000 followers: “I see my physique and thoughts remodel every single day.
“I like my new me, and by no means transfer on to the habits that I used to make use of.”
Whilst she grew thinner and weaker, she believed that her eating regimen made her look youthful and more healthy than her mates.
She mentioned: “I really feel very unhappy after I see most of my friends. Due to junk meals, they give the impression of being a lot older than their age.”
Solely days earlier than she died, Samsonova shared the haunting last message: “Life is meaningless however value residing offered you recognise it is meaningless.”
The cryptic notice written over a selfie together with her mouth open got here after seven weeks of conspicuous silence on her Instagram.
Samsonova’s official reason behind loss of life has not but been decided and her household are at the moment preventing to convey her physique dwelling.
The Beat Consuming Problems helpline is open 12 months a yr. Name 0808 801 0677 or see beateatingdisorders.org.uk.
Indicators and signs of anorexia
- should you’re beneath 18, your weight and top being decrease than anticipated to your age
- should you’re an grownup, having an unusually low physique mass index
- lacking meals, consuming little or no or avoiding consuming any meals you see as fattening
- believing you’re fats if you end up a wholesome weight or underweight
- taking treatment to scale back your starvation (urge for food suppressants)
- your durations stopping (in ladies who haven’t reached menopause) or not beginning (in youthful ladies and women)
- bodily issues, equivalent to feeling dizzy, dry pores and skin and hair loss