<div><p>After waging a 6 year battle with anorexia, Nicola King went from skeletal to toned in just 18 months after focusing her attention on weightlifting.</p><p>Dropping to just 56 pounds, the now 24-year-old champion body builder, was admitted to intensive care a few years ago and doctor's told her parents to say their goodbyes because her vital organs were shutting down. </p><p>She managed to turn it all around in a dramatic recovery story that shows you anything is possible!</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/Nicola-King-anoressica-che-rischia-di-morire-diventa-campionessa-di-body-building-2.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/Nicola-King-anoressica-che-rischia-di-morire-diventa-campionessa-di-body-building-2_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/Nicola-King-anoressica-che-rischia-di-morire-diventa-campionessa-di-body-building-2_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p>After starting to count calories when she was just 16, anorexia took hold of her life which caused her to refuse to eat or even drink water for 6 weeks on end. </p><p>Aside from dropping to a BMI of only 8, her hair fell out, her periods stopped and she was living with constant pain. </p><p>"At my worst my weight fell to four stone. I was admitted to hospital because I hadn't eaten for months or had any water for about three and a half weeks," <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4378340/Recovering-anorexic-wins-bodybuilding-title.html">she said. </a></p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>"My body was starting to shut down. On two occasions, the doctors told my parents to say goodbye. They said I wasn't going to live," she said. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/3EEC9DF800000578-4378340-image-a-8_1491295733307.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/3EEC9DF800000578-4378340-image-a-8_1491295733307_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p>"The illness was so strong that they were trying to tube feed me and I had wires in but I kept ripping them all out. I wanted to die and I felt physically dead," she said. </p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>She managed to survive 3 weeks after being heavily sedated and tube fed, and was discharged from hospital 6 months later in June 2012. </p><p>After leaving hospital she started going to the gym, where she got involved in bodybuilding at the end of 2015. </p><p>Nicola now weighs a healthy 125 pounds of her 5 foot 9 inch figure and eats a balanced diet to keep up her strength that allows her to dead-lift up to 88 pounds. </p><p>"Going to the gym has given me focus and something I can get up for in the morning," she stated. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/3EECA07000000578-4378340-image-a-1_1491295701882.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/3EECA07000000578-4378340-image-a-1_1491295701882_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p>"It has been a very long road since then but for the first time, I am proud of myself," she said.</p><p>"I never thought I would get to this point. I didn't even think I would still be here. It's surreal to have come this far - it's overwhelming," she said. </p><div><amp-facebook data-href="https://www.facebook.com/BBCSouthToday/videos/1330317297058857" layout="responsive" height="600" width="640"></amp-facebook></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>"I still struggle because as much as I have overcome the illness, it never goes away completely, but I feel like I have beaten it. It is no longer strong enough to take over."</p><p></p></div>