As her daughter recovers from severe body dysmorphia, one mum fears the cost of living crisis could make it worse
It was three years before Kelly Boone saw her daughter’s face free from a thick layer of make-up.
Avella was 11 years old when she first began exhibiting symptoms of severe body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) – even going as far as to consult a cosmetic surgeon and begging for rhinoplasty.
At the most severe, it left her housebound and she would cover her head with a towel just to go to the toilet, refusing to let her family see her without the thick layers of foundation.
On one “devastating” occasion, her father Patrick opened a package that had arrived for Avella – it contained injections and filler bought off a dodgy website.
It was not the first time Avella had tried “self-surgery”.
“She didn’t actually use any of the things she bought – by luck,” Kelly, from south Devon, said.
“It was crippling. She was a recluse, just living in her room.
“I was sliding trays of food across her bedroom floor with her in a darkened room at one point.”
As Avella, now 17, makes steps towards recovery, Kelly fears the cost of living crisis will make things harder.
Two showers a day
Although Avella no longer wears layers of make-up she has a strict hygiene routine – including two showers a day – to help her cope with her body dysmorphia.
Amid the soaring cost of energy, bills and inflation, there are concerns it could become harder for the family.
The family’s monthly gas bill has risen from £400 to more than £500. But for Kelly, the price is non-negotiable.
“She’s starting to recover and the gains we’ve made, we can’t negotiate on that,” Kelly told Sky News.
“It’s quite ritualistic and quite necessary to her, and we can’t make any concessions on those, whilst they might be a luxury to some people.
“So we cannot cut down our water bill, the cost of gas – these things are non-negotiable, so our bills are extortionate.”
Avella also cannot get public transport. “She cannot sit face to face with someone,” her mother said – so instead they have to drive her to therapy appointments, and previously to college.
“I can’t believe how quickly my tank gets down to zero,” said Kelly. “It’s very expensive.”
Read more on the cost of living crisis
Avella, aged 11, before she began showing symptoms of body dysmorphia
‘Her recovery has to be at her pace – not at my energy bill convenience’
Kelly said seeing Avella suffer is “excruciating”.
“I would do anything to swap places with her,” she said.
“It’s been really difficult and gut-wrenching, but we’ve also had some really high moments.
“Like the day she decided to wipe her make-up off and come down and show us.
“It was the first time in three years we had seen her without any make-up on.”
As the family takes each day “hour by hour”, none of them want to see Avella slide back to where she was before.
The mother of three said: “Any requested change to her routine, other than what she does for herself of her own choosing would cause immediate anxiety and distress.
“This can snowball to affect other aspects of how she perceives herself. Her recovery has to be at her own pace not at my convenience due to rising energy bill concerns.”
One in three fear for their children
Kelly is not alone, as new research shows a third of parents think the cost of living crisis will significantly affect their children’s mental health.
These children, who have spent their formative teenage years living through the COVID pandemic, face coming of age in a cost of living crisis.
A poll of 2,150 UK parents – by Savanta ComRes and commissioned by the King’s Maudsley Partnership – found a third of parents (33%) feel their child is currently experiencing mental health difficulties.
This rises to 43% of parents with children ages between 16 and 17.
The most common symptom, or behaviour, noticed by parents is anxiety (68%), which is cited by nearly twice as many parents as the next most common response – which is depression or low mood episodes in their children (37%).
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‘Grossly underfunded’
Kelly, like many parents, experienced delay after delay in getting treatment for Avella.
Bruce Clark, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist and specialist in OCD, BDD and related disorders, said he had seen a “huge rise in mental health presentations to services, both in referrals to generic services” as well as emergency crisis referrals since the pandemic.
The clinical director of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, who works at the South London and Maudsley Mental Health Trust said while there are charities that help fill some of the gaps, the sector – particularly around research – is “grossly underfunded”.
The London trust is on the brink of opening a new pioneering mental health centre for children and young people, the Pears Maudsley Centre. Part of the new centre will involve a clinical hub, with research vital to improving support for young people.
“There was always an aspiration to deliver for 35% of the mental health needs in the community,” Dr Clark said.
“Well, we want to do more than 35%. I’d like to find ourselves in a situation with the right clinical research background to deliver as close to 100%.
“You’d never find that acceptable to say we’ll treat 35% of the cancer morbidity in our society, so it would be brilliant if we could not have that limited aspiration for children’s mental health.”
Sir Keir Starmer has joined other European leaders in Kyiv to press Russia to agree an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
The prime minister is attending the summit alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, recently-elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
It is the first time the leaders of the four countries have travelled to Ukraine at the same time – arriving in the capital by train – with their meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz travelling in the saloon car of a special train to Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
Leaders arrive in Kyiv by train. Pic: PA
It comes after Donald Trump called for “ideally” a 30-day ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, and warned that if any pause in the fighting is not respected “the US and its partners will impose further sanctions”.
Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke told Sky News presenter Samantha Washington the European leaders are “rowing in behind” the US president, who referred to his “European allies” for the first time in this context in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“So this meeting is all about heaping pressure on the Russians to go along with the American proposal,” he said.
“It’s the closest the Europeans and the US have been for about three months on this issue.”
Sir Keir Starmer, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron among world leaders in Kyiv. Pic: AP
Trump calls for ceasefire. Pic: Truth Social
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies are ready for a “full, unconditional ceasefire” for at least 30 days starting on Monday.
Ahead of the meeting on Saturday, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz released a joint statement.
European leaders show solidarity – but await Trump’s backing
The hope is Russia’s unilateral ceasefire, such as it’s worth, can be extended for a month to give peace a chance.
But ahead of the meeting, Ukrainian sources told Sky News they are still waiting for President Donald Trump to put his full weight behind the idea.
The US leader has said a 30-day ceasefire would be ideal, but has shown no willingness yet for putting pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin to agree.
The Russians say a ceasefire can only come after a peace deal can be reached.
European allies are still putting their hopes in a negotiated end to the war despite Moscow’s intransigence and President Trump’s apparent one-sided approach favouring Russia.
Ukrainians would prefer to be given enough economic and military support to secure victory.
But in over three years, despite its massive economic superiority to Russia and its access to more advanced military technology, Europe has not found the political will to give Kyiv the means to win.
Until they do, Vladimir Putin may decide it is still worth pursuing this war despite its massive cost in men and materiel on both sides.
“We reiterate our backing for President Trump’s calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace,” they said.
“Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”
Sir Keir and Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in March. Pic: AP
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Putin’s Victory Day parade explained
The leaders said they were “ready to support peace talks as soon as possible”.
But they warned that they would continue to “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow agrees to a lasting ceasefire.
“We are clear the bloodshed must end, Russia must stop its illegal invasion, and Ukraine must be able to prosper as a safe, secure and sovereign nation within its internationally recognised borders for generations to come,” their statement added.
“We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine.”
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The European leaders are set to visit the Maidan, a central square in Ukraine’s capital where flags represent those who died in the war.
They are also expected to host a virtual meeting for other leaders in the “coalition of the willing” to update them on progress towards a peacekeeping force.
Military officers from around 30 countries have been involved in drawing up plans for a coalition, which would provide a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire being agreed between Russia and Ukraine.
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This force “would help regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces after any peace deal and strengthen confidence in any future peace”, according to Number 10.
A special constable has been jailed after taking pictures on his phone from bodycam footage showing a dying man.
Former police volunteer William Heggs, 23, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment at Leicester Crown Court on Friday after showing the photos of victim William Harty, 28, to a female colleague and storing them on his Snapchat account.
Mr Harty was found seriously injured in a residential street in Leicester on 25 October 2021 and Heggs had attended the scene, helping with CPR before paramedics arrived.
Mr Harty died in hospital a day later and the man responsible for his injuries, his brother-in-law Martin Casey, was subsequently convicted of his manslaughter.
Heggs showed the pictures he had taken of bodycam footage of Mr Harty’s body to a Leicestershire Police constable, who reported Heggs and said she did not like seeing blood.
His phone was seized and officers discovered other photographs and video clips of bodyworn footage of incidents Heggs had attended on duty, including of a knife seizure, use of baton and pepper spray, and a man with an injured hand receiving first aid.
He also took pictures of a police computer screen, showing details of crimes and suspects, without consent.
Heggs stored the materials in a Snapchat folder and disclosed graphic details – most of which were not in the public domain – about the injuries to a woman who was killed in a road traffic collision he had attended, to a friend on the social media platform.
Heggs was suspended from the force in November 2021 and resigned in October 2024 before pleading guilty to 11 computer misuse and data protection offences this March.
William Harty’s widow Mandy Casey. Pic: PA
‘He has traumatised me’
Mr Harty’s widow, Mandy Casey, said in a victim impact statement read to the court that Heggs “took (her) husband’s dignity when he was most vulnerable”.
“You don’t take someone’s dignity and pride from them on their deathbed.”
She continued: “When I found out special constable Heggs had done this, I just wanted to ask why. He has traumatised me. I feel I will never know if he showed them to others.”
Ms Casey said she was still scared that photos of her husband’s body might appear on social media.
She added that she had lost trust in the police.
Public trust in police ‘significantly undermined’
Judge Timothy Spencer told Heggs, who has autism and ADHD, that he was “probably too immature to be working as a police officer” as he handed down the sentence.
He said Heggs had received “extensive training”, including on the importance of data protection, and knew he should only share materials for “a genuine policing purpose”.
Heggs’s actions had “significantly undermined” public trust and confidence in police, according to the judge.
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Malcolm McHaffie, from the Crown Prosecution Service, added: “William Heggs abused the public’s trust in the office he held as a special police constable.
“He violated the dignity of the deceased victims for no apparent reason other than what could be considered personal fascination and to gain credibility among his peers.”
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