Woman, 21, has not eaten in more than FOUR YEARS due to a rare disease which has destroyed her entire digestive tract

A woman has not eaten food in more than four years due to a rare life-threatening disease.

Kelly Beckers, 21, from the Netherlands, suffers from chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIP), which has destroyed her entire digestive tract.

As a result of the condition, which arose during complications when she was born breech, her intestines and stomach do not work.

Miss Beckers is therefore forced to receive nutritional supplements via an IV-line into an artery close to her heart.

She nearly died on several occasions when the line became infected, leading to life-threatening blood poisoning.

'If I get sick again now, the chance is high that I will die,' she said.

Miss Beckers, whose parents even said goodbye to her the last time she became unwell, is forced to wear two ostomy bags every day to collect her faeces.

Speaking of her most recent health scare, Miss Beckers said: 'In November I was on the edge of death.

'An infection started in my line which stops three centimetres away from my heart.

'My parents then even said their farewells to me because it looked like I would die.'

She only survived due to medics removing the infected line that was causing her blood poisoning just in time.

But despite the seriousness of her condition, Miss Beckers refuses to let CIP ruin her life.

'I'm living life to the fullest and try to get everything out of it,' she said.

The only thing her disease stops her from doing is eating - which she has not done in four-and-a-half years.

'I don't miss it, because I can't really picture it anymore. But I do miss the social aspect around it,' Miss Beckers said.

'Think of it: What will you do if you want to meet with your friends for a fun day?

'Everything revolves around food. I can't partake in that, so often I sit there rather uncomfortable with a cup of light broth.'

Despite her ostomy bags and a line running from her nose to remove bile, Miss Beckers is not ashamed of her appearance.

Speaking after last Saturday's World Ostomy Day, she said: 'I hope the taboo around ostomy bags gets less and that people dare to ask questions to me instead of just staring.'

Although she is unable to work due to her disease, Miss Beckers goes around schools educating students on CIP and also volunteers at a local sports club.

Since getting her dog Lyfke, she has managed to maintain her independence and even lives alone.

'It has happened before that I became unwell and my father just got there in time,' Miss Beckers said.

'It turned out I suffered from internal bleeding. If I was alone at that moment, I would not have been able to tell the tale.

'Now with Lyfke I dare to be home alone again. She can warn people if something goes wrong and she helps me around the house.

'She is only unable to iron my clothes.'

Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter