A TEENAGE girl suffering from bulimia was brought back from the dead by two offduty policemen after she collapsed outside a restaurant.

Hollie Tillbrook suffered a heart attack outside Chiquito at Basildon’s Festival Leisure Park after her potassium levels plummeted dangerously low.

Luckily two near-by off-duty police officers, believed to be from the Met Police, sprung in to action and administered life-saving CPR until ambulance crews arrived.

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Hollie, of Bailey Road, Leigh, was rushed to Basildon Hospital where her terrified mum, Denise Bennett, was told to expect the worst.

But 17-year-old Hollie fought back to make a miraculous recovery and is now recovering at home.

Denise said: “I really want to thank the two officers that saved my daughter’s life. They are just absolute heroes.

“The critical care team at Basildon Hospital and the treatment she received there was brilliant.”

Hollie suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome and her mum believes excessive tiredness caused her to become depressed and develop bulimia.

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The teenager tried to get help from the NHS, but her mum said struggled to get referred for psychological therapy.

Doctors believe on March 14 – the day of Hollie’s collapse – she had been so sick her potassium levels had dropped.

Denise said Hollie had suffered the attack while waiting for her boyfriend GaryHobbs to park his car.

When he came back, he found Hollie laying on the floor with a crowd gathered around her.

Denise said: “Fortunately a young bouncer working at the park had the presence of mind to take her phone and ring me.”

Hollie was transferred to Basildon Hospital where doctors told Denise her heart had stopped and for a brief time she had technically died.

The teen was put in to an induced coma overnight and doctors told Denise to return in the morning but to prepare for the worst.

The next morning doctors began to bring Hollie out of the coma and miraculously she began to breath on her own. Five days later she was allowed home.

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Hollie said: “I don’t remember much about what happened that day but I owe the doctors and the off duty officers everything.

“I feel very tired still and I know I have a long recovery ahead.

“It’s been really horrible but I am so thankful to be alive.”

Now the family are trying to find the police officers that saved Hollie and want to thank them in person.

Denise said: “I would love to be able to meet the police officers who saved my daughter’s life and for them to get in touch.

“I also reallywarn other young people about the affects of bulimia.

“I know it is an illness, but it is beyond my comprehension why these kids do this. It is not a game. ”

FACTS ABOUT BULIMIA AND WHAT TO LOOK FOR

BULIMIA is an eating disorder and a mental health condition.

People who have bulimia try to control their weight by severely restricting the amount of food they eat, then binge eating and making themselves sick.

People with eating disorders tend to use their eating habits and behaviours to cope with emotional distress, or have an unrealistic perception of themselves as being fat.

This causes people with bulimia to restrict their food intake.

They often then binge eat and purge which involved them making themselves sick or using laxatives.

Many sufferers feel guilty about their behaviour and try to binge and purge in secret.

Warning signs of bulimia include an obsessive attitude towards food and eating, an over critical attitude to their weight and shape, and frequent visits to the bathroom after eating.

When they return from the toilet they may look flushed or have marks on their knuckles from where they have put their fingers down their throat to make themselves sick.

Bulimia can lead to physical problems associated with poor nutrient intake and dental problems.

Women are much more likely to develop bulimia than men however the number is increasing and an estimated 25 per cent of sufferers are now male.

There are an estimated 1.6 million Britons suffering from some form of eating disorder and is most common among people aged 16 to 40.

The first place to get help is through a GP.

Gary digs up a live hand grenade in garden

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WHILE his girlfriend was recovering from a heart attack Gary Hobbs dug up a grenade in her garden.

Mr Hobbs was at his girlfriend Hollie Tillbrook’s house on Bank Holiday Monday, helping her family with the garden when he dug up a Second World War hand grenade.

The family called the police who cordoned off the house and garden in Bayley Road, Leigh, until the bomb squad arrived.

Hollie’s mum Denise Bennett, said: “We just cannot believe the run of luck we have had.

“Hollie’s boyfriend was digging at the bottom of the garden when he hit something hard. He thought it was a brick at first until he pulled it out the ground and realised it was a grenade.

“The ring had come out of it and the bomb disposal lady said for some reason it just had not gone off.”

The family’s property was cordoned off for about three hours on Bank Holiday Monday, while the bomb disposal team safely moved the grenade.

As the Echo went to press the device was being moved to Shoebury where experts planned a controlled explosion.

Denise added: “The bomb disposal team confirmed it was a live grenade which is worrying.

“We have no idea how it got there. We just wonder if there could be any others nearby.

“The Army officers said it could have been that someone had buried it after the war.”