Friday, March 29, 2024

Victoria woman uses obituary to call out fat-shaming in medical profession

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A 64-year-old cancer patient is being praised for calling out fat-shaming in the medical profession through her obituary.

Ellen Bennett has been making local and national headlines after her July obituary featured a statement expressing that health care professionals did not offer her any advice other than suggesting weight loss, when she sought out help during years of feeling unwell.

Bennett was born in Burin, Newfoundland, but spent a lot of her life in Victoria, B.C. Her obituary also refers to the team at Victoria Hospice, thanking them for how they treated Bennett.

Her final plea

Ellen Maud Bennett died on May 11th, after she was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and given just days to live.

Her obituary states that her “dying wish was that women of size make her death matter by advocating strongly for their health and not accepting that fat is the only relevant health issue.”

It also expresses how Ellen endured fat-shaming over several years when she tried to seek medical help for feeling unwell, and how “no one offered any support or suggestions beyond weight loss.”

Sparking a conversation

According to several online reports, advocates across the country responded to the obituary, addressing the fact that doctors will often ascribe patients’ illnesses to their weight rather than explore other possible diagnoses.

Ximena Ramos Salas, managing director of Obesity Canada, told The Canadian Press that many medical professionals are not sufficiently trained in treating patients with obesity, so their knowledge is largely informed by the weight biases that pervade society as a whole.

And according to Aisha Fairclough, co-founder of Toronto-based Body Confidence Canada, “larger-sized patients are often forced to ask doctors to look past their weight when assessing symptoms, which is especially difficult to do in a vulnerable situation like seeking medical advice.”

Several people and groups have also taken to Twitter to share their support and empathy for Ellen’s ordeal.

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Brishti Basu
Former Senior Staff Writer and Content Manager at Victoria Buzz.

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