As a young child, I suffered all sorts of digestive problems and was constantly under the weather.

As a young child, I suffered from poor health. My parents encouraged me to swim, which really improved my condition.

My digestive system was so damaged that I became allergic to almost everything, including fruit and vegetables, and the only thing I could stomach was chicken and chips.

As a young child, I was never a crier. I never cried to get my way, or even when I was in pain.

But it was my parents I longed for mostly. I wanted to be a little girl again and cuddle into them, wriggling in between them like I'd done in their bed when I was three or four, snug and warm in the safest place in the world.

Instead I had Hell.

For me, growing up felt like a roller coaster ride at times, but looking back, I don't think that it was such a bad thing. It was all part of the excitement of being young.