In a recent episode of the American TV show Untold Stories of the ER, a story about a mum who fed her teenage daughter tapeworm eggs so that she would be skinny for a beauty pageant has turned just about everyone’s stomach.
When the girl came in with a sore and distended tummy doctors thought she might be pregnant. However, an ultrasound proved that this was not the case as there was no sign of a baby. The truth was revealed when a nurse heard the girl screaming in the toilet, and when they checked to see what was wrong, they were faced with a toilet bowl full of worms:
“It was so gross and she had pooped all these tapeworms. There were a couple that were very long and wiggling around trying to get out of the toilet bowl.”
“We were wondering how did she get those tapeworms, and then you saw the mom turn white.
“The mom was apologising to the girl. It’s like ‘I’m so sorry. You know, I did it just to make you a little skinnier. You needed some help before we went on to the pageant.”
Apparently the mum got the pills, which contained tapeworm eggs, in Mexico. It wasn’t revealed what happened after the incident, but we hope this mother has learned that winning a beauty pageant is not as important as your child’s health.
