A local woman who was "given two weeks to live" due to severe anorexia turned her life around to become a doctor. 

Sarah Zurub, 30, was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa aged 14 after she was bullied at school.  

As a "perfectionist" and "high achiever" fellow students would make fun of Sarah for her high grades – which she says led to her controlled eating. 

Sarah was admitted to hospital twice spending two months out of hospital after her first admission – and spent her 15th, 16th and 17th birthdays as an in-patient, being fed through a tube for a year.   

When she was 15 doctors thought she was having a heart attack but discovered her chest pain was in fact due to her heart muscle wasting away and "at that trajectory" she was given weeks to live.  

Determined she wanted to become a doctor one day, Sarah says she thought "I'm going to have to do something", admitting the death of a friend who was also in hospital suffering with an eating disorder "shook me a bit".  

Wanting to "give back" to the NHS doctors and nurses who helped her she went to medical school.  

Now a junior doctor, Sarah is taking on the challenge of walking The Great Wall of China to raise money for the UK's eating disorder charity Beat in October 2026.  

Sarah, from Coventry, said: "I feel like I've got a place now to be able to help others and that's why I want to do this.  

 "I want to celebrate because I never thought I'd be in a healthy place.  

"At the time my parents were told I wouldn't get better.  

"When I was really bad I thought I was having a heart attack and I was given two weeks to live.  

"The NHS saved my life.  

"I will always be forever grateful.  

"I'm forever indebted.  

"They didn't give up on me, especially my consultant.  

"I begged to die and he kept me alive".  

Sarah Zurub, 30, was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa aged 14 after she was bullied at school (image via SWNS)

Sarah was first admitted to Newbridge House, Sutton Coldfield in 2010, before being transferred to Aspen Centre, Warwick, an eating disorder clinic for adults, 2012.  

She said: "It was very traumatising at the time because I was very resistant to help.  

"When someone is poorly and resistant to help they treat you against your free will.  

"Which is very scary especially when you're quite young.  

"I would often get restrained.  

"As well as the dark times there were positive times.  

"One thing I remember when I would get restrained is one of the nurses would rub my hand and it gave me a sense of comfort.  

"You end up building up a rapport with the staff.  

"When I was sick one of the things that helped me get better is I wanted to give back to the NHS and all the charities that had helped me.  

"I used that as a focus to get out – and get the grades I needed to go to uni".  

In 2014 following her discharge from hospital she began a biomedical sciences undergraduate degree where she graduated with first class honours before attending Warwick Medical School.  

2025 marks the 10-year anniversary of Sarah's recovery, and she has decided to take on the challenge of walking 21 miles of the Great Wall Of China next year.  

Setting up a GoFundMe, Sarah needs to raise £4,000 to be sponsored by Beat and complete the trek.  

She said: "I thought to myself, 'is it impossible?  

"'I've done so much stuff that is impossible'.  

"It's a nine-day trek and some of the days we'll be walking for nine hours.  

 "We're doing the really rural sections so the bits tourists are not necessarily doing.  

"One of the days it's going to be a 45-degree incline.  

"It's a new challenge to be healthy but make sure I don't slip into old habits.  

"Beat the charity have been so protective and I've had to have so many references to show that I'm well enough.  

"It's a huge step in my recovery to do something so strenuous.  

"The thing to do after that is a sky dive – I'm on a roll now nothing can stop me". 

Donate to Sarah's fundraiser here.