Dental nurse Kerry Trebilcock has eaten 4,000 washing-up sponges and more than 100 bars of soap due to a rare disorder. The 21-year-old loves nothing more than covering them in hot sauce,ketchup or mustard for added flavour and also dips them in tea or hot chocolate like biscuits.
Her disorder — known as pica — is so bad that she gets hungry while taking a shower, doing the washing-up or just walking down the cleaning aisle in supermarkets. The disorder causes victims to crave objects that are not food, mostly metal, coal, sand, chalk — or even lightbulbs and furniture.
Kerry believes she got the bizarre disorder after being infected with hookworm while on holiday to Morocco in 2008. Her favourite bar of soap is organic lemon and lime. Kerry said, “I have been very particular about the type of sponges and soaps I eat. If I’d go out for the day I carry a small plastic bag of cut-up pieces of sponge with some tomato and BBQ sauce in Tupperware.”
Speaking about the first time she ate a sponge Kerry said, “After one dinner, I still felt hungry. I sat down with a glass of water and chewed the sponge until it was gone.Finally my hunger was gone and my stomach felt satisfied.” Kerry is determined to kick the disorder with the help of her doctor.
—Agencies