Summary
From the age of two up to 16, Sinéad Browne is in and out of children’s homes and foster care. Her one constant is school. She’s regularly told she will amount to nothing but against expectations and as an act of defiance, Sinéad just studies harder. At times she is hungry and ashamed to ask for help. Years of a complicated relationship with food develop into a serious eating disorder but in spite of all this Sinéad gets herself three A’s at A level and then a law degree and a job as a solicitor. So many life experiences for a young woman but in the end it is a very simple thing, a meal, that forces a major turning point in her life. She tells Jane Garvey her remarkable story.
Please be aware this edition talks about suicide and eating disorders.
You can find details of organisations offering information and support with both these subjects: Eating disorders: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2DRkg4JC7SLT3B7hlrn6DKN/information-and-support-eating-disorders Suicide / Emotional distress: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4WLs5NlwrySXJR2n8Snszdg/information-and-support-suicide-emotional-distress
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Eleven climbers appeared to have died on the world's second highest mountain K2. |
| 0:06.0 | It was one of the deadliest days in mountaineering history. |
| 0:10.0 | Rock falls, avalanches. |
| 0:11.0 | Huge pieces of ice. All are big enough to kill you. |
| 0:14.0 | He just flew out into Devoid and he was gone. |
| 0:17.0 | How did it all go so wrong? |
| 0:19.0 | And is it really worth risking death to feel alive? Why would |
| 0:23.2 | somebody pay to go to a place called the death cell on a vacation? Extreme, peak danger. With me, |
| 0:29.9 | Natalia Melman Petrazella. Listen to the full series now. First on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:40.1 | Hi, every single edition of Life-Changing is a little different because everybody's a bit different. |
| 0:46.4 | Some of the events we've talked about in Life-changing have been really dramatic. |
| 0:50.4 | Absolute, stop you in your tracks, sorts of events. |
| 0:53.4 | But this today is a little different it's effectively |
| 0:57.2 | in the case of cheney brown our guest it was a meal that changed her life chnade is from south london and |
| 1:05.3 | she had a pretty tough start to her life and i should warn you that in our conversation there are |
| 1:10.4 | references to suicide |
| 1:11.9 | and to eating disorders. But Sheenade is a brilliant young woman and she is really worth your time. |
| 1:17.6 | And I should say, we start the conversation somewhere much more joyous. Now, Shnade, I'm meeting |
| 1:23.1 | you. It's a beautiful spring morning in London and we were just chatting about your wedding, which is coming up in November. |
| 1:31.0 | So it's something that you and your fiancé Jack are planning together. |
| 1:34.5 | It's something you're doing together. |
| 1:35.9 | Yeah, for the most part. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.