'YMCA Angels' Hold Parking Lot Intervention for Anorexic Woman, Save Her Life (VIDEO)
A group of regulars at a YMCA in Nashville, Tenn. didn't know Lauryn Lax, but they didn't need to know the Belmont University student to see there was something wrong. Over the last few weeks, the gym patrons watched her get dangerously thin. It reached the point where they feared her life was at risk. The group felt if they didn't act, the crisis would end in tragedy.
After consulting with Lax's parents in Little Rock, Ark., the group organized an intervention. When Lax pulled in to the parking lot the next morning, they surrounded her car to take her to the hospital. Lax refused, but the group wouldn't budge.
When Lax finally conceded, doctors found her heart was on the verge of failing.
After going through treatment for the eating disorder, Lax is now at healthy weight and will graduate with a doctorate in occupational therapy this month. And she has the group of concerned strangers – her "YMCA angels," she calls them – to thank for her bright future.
You can keep up with Lauryn Lax on her blog.