A MUM says cruel people claim she shouldn't be a mother – because her phobia of being sick is so extreme she had to send her baby to live with her grandmother for half a year.
Lily Lynch claims she is so afraid of vomit that she will pass out if someone close to her is sick and even takes if worried.
The 24-year-old said her phobia – known as – first developed when she was seven years old, when she vomited after catching a bug at a birthday party.
Lily claims she has not been sick since and avoids , and meat to ensure she isn't – even once saying she would rather die than .
When her 14-month-old daughter first came down with a bug, Lily said she had to flee the room due to having .
Lily said her mum had to come and take her daughter, Willow, and they decided she would live with her temporarily.
The mum-of-two said she would visit Willow over the six-month period and take her home overnight, but needed time to recover from the .
Lily posted her experience in an online video which has gathered more than 750,000 views, and she claims some have commented that she should not be a mum.
Lily, from Pentewan, , said: “My daughter caught a sickness bug from a baby group but was at my mum's house so I didn't have to deal with it.
“But when she came home the next day I knew she had been unwell.
“When I witnessed her vomit for the first time, I was adamant I will not pass this fear to my children and don't want them to see my fear with emetophobia.
“I left her with her dad and went out of her view upstairs and had a panic attack about it.
“My mum came and got her because I had a newborn baby at the time as well.
“All I could think of is that I'll get it and my baby is going to get it.
“She stayed there for six months. It was a couple of weeks later it was decided she would stay with my mum temporarily.
“It was agreed because I had a mental breakdown.
“She was visited every day by me, she stayed home overnight so it gave me time to seek more help to overcome what triggered my breakdown.
“I had the support for six months and then my daughter came home and she's been home ever since.
“I've gotten a mixed response [from people about the issue]. Some of the hate comments tell me I don't deserve to have children and should be , that no one with mental health issues should have children.
“If it [vomit] is out on the street I will get symptoms, the standard , fear and shaking.
“If it's closer to me like a family member then I have been known to either pass out or run away.
“If I was to be sick, when I was 16 I said I'll throw myself out of a window if I'm sick.
“I've worked on myself so hard since having children but at one point of my life I thought I'd rather die than be sick.”
The stay-at-home mum said she has since tried to push her fear away to focus on being a great mum.
To battle the risk of bugs from , Lily said she implements a strict hand-wash routine while she bleaches the house frequently.
The mum said she does not drink alcohol and avoids meat and dairy to avoid being sick, while she also uses anti-sickness tablets.
Lily said: “I do have anti-sickness tablets and have a very of the house, bleach and stuff to keep bugs at bay.
“I've had the feeling of wanting to be sick but my body won't let it happen like there's something stopping that.
“I don't drink purely because of that, as a the most I'd have is one drink because of my phobia.
“I'm pretty much so I'm very careful about eating meat and dairy.
“I knew that being a mum to my daughter was far more important than me trying to avoid catching a bug so I really had to push that phobia aside and be the best mum I could be for her.
“I knew it was good for her to go to nursery and socialise and mix so I had to put my fear aside.
“There were things in place when they started nursery, it was a lot of hand washing and I had a great nursery teacher who knew about my phobia.”
Now, Lily aims to raise awareness about emetophobia.
Lily said: “There are a lot of other parents out there with this phobia and it's important to keep raising awareness about it.
“Just because we have this phobia doesn't mean we're .
“If there's any mums out there with emetophobia, reach out, because I let mine get to a point which led to my daughter not being with me for months.”
I couldn't live with myself knowing I abandoned my own child
Online criticTikTok
Lily claims she received mixed comments in her viral video. Some commenters criticise the mum for leaving her daughter and judge her for having another child after that.
One commenter said: “Not sure how a woman could desert a child and then have another one. Poor baby.”
One angrily commented: “This is unforgivable. I couldn't live with myself knowing I abandoned my own child.”
Another said: “It would be understandable if she didn't send her own child away also because of emetophobia, succumbing to a silly little phobia over your own child and sending her like she's a toy you cba [can't be arsed] with.”
Others have voiced their support for Lily and her decision to do what was best for her baby.
One said: “I think it's actually really brave and responsible of you to have made such a difficult choice for the betterment of your children.”
A second wrote said: “Well done for doing the right thing for your babies, you are obviously a good mum.”
