£800,000 payout for woman after fad diet left her brain damaged

Dawn Page has secured more than £800,000 in damages after a radical new detox diet left her brain damaged and epileptic.

The 52 year old, mother of two, was advised to drink an extra four pints of water a day and reduce her salt intake to prevent fluid retention and eventually lose weight.

“Days after she started the Hydration Diet she began to feel unwell and started vomiting”

Within days of going on ‘The Amazing Hydration Diet’, Dawn began to vomit. However, nutritionist Barbara Nash assured her it was all ‘part of the detoxification process’.

Mrs Nash even urged her to increase the amount of water she drank to six pints per day and eat fewer salty foods.

Mrs Page then suffered a massive epileptic fit brought on by severe sodium deficiency less than a week after she started the diet in 2001.

She was rushed to hospital, but doctors were unfortunately unable to prevent permanent brain injuries.

Mrs Page was left suffering with epilepsy and a ‘cognitive deficit’ which has affected her memory, concentration and the ability to speak normally.

The former conference organiser has relied on her husband Geoff, 54, for help ever since. She was forced to quit her job and suffers frequent mood swings.

Last week she was presented with a £810,000 payout from Nash’s insurance company following a 6 year battle.

Dawn’s husband said the settlement reflected the seriousness of his wife’s injuries – and warned others of the dangers of ‘fad-type’ diets.

Speaking from the home he shares with Mrs Page and youngest son David, 28, he said: ‘She was not obese or even mildly obese but, like a lot of women, Dawn liked to look after her weight and was not having much success with the normal ways of doing that.

‘She had tried Weight Watchers and calorie control diets – this was just another potential route for her to lose weight.

‘But just days after she started the Hydration Diet she began to feel unwell and started vomiting, which the nutritionist said was all part of the detox process.

‘Things went from bad to worse and within another couple of days she collapsed with the fit.

Nash, who refers to herself as a ‘nutritional therapist and life coach’, denies any fault.