Thursday, November 13, 2003

By Mia Gradney / KHWB News

(Sherry, WB 39 Anchor) Thousands of young women suffer from eating disorders, and did you know that very few of them get some help? But a Houston woman is trying to reach out to them by telling her story, and WB39's Mia Gradney is here with it.

(Mia) Sherry, seeing is believing for the messages & the music of recovered anorexic and bulimic Shannon Cutts.

(music playing)

(Mia) 32 year old Shannon Cutts warms up the room.

(Shannon) "I don't know if any of you knew why you were coming today? No? You're like - Oh, crap!"

(Mia) Shannon's subject is serious. (Shannon) "I am a recovered anorexic and bulimic." Her audience's expressions quickly change." (Audience member) To get to talk to someone who's actually experienced it before, so you actually see what it's like I guess.

(Mia) You can't tell now, but at 5'6", Shannon once looked & felt very different.

(Shannon) "When I was at my worst I weighed 90 lbs."

(Mia) Her health was so poor she could no longer do the one thing she was living for.

(Shannon) "I sang my little heart out, but when you're throwing up and trying to sing at the same time, your vocal chords start to get raw and they start to rub together, and they start to get damaged."

(Mia) Her hands were so frail and weak she couldn't play the guitar.

(Shannon) "I had to wear hand casts, I couldn't pick up a milk carton; I couldn't drive myself around."

(music playing)

(Mia) But her faith and her love for music saved her life.

(Shannon) "Music became my lifeline - it was the only reason I had any interaction with anybody, and when I lost it, that became my desire to heal."

(Mia) Now she shares her music and her message with young girls.

(Audience member) "She has such a good voice for, like, everything that she's gone through."

(Mia) Alone in their rooms, teenagers love to listen to music, and for every young person who crosses Shannon's path, she gives them a copy of her CD 'Modern Day Eve'.

(Shannon) "I can reach them in a way that maybe the average 32 year old might or might not be able to. I call it 'true grit' spiritual & inspirational music in the sense that there's always an element of wanting to inspire, encourage, offer my strength, experience and hope to those who need it. You may not need to be here today for you, but you might have a friend, or somebody in your family…"

(Audience member) "It was really cool, because you, like, hear about people, but you never really meet them. I had a cousin with an eating disorder, but she never really talks about it."

(Mia) Hopefully someday she'll find her voice, like Shannon did. (music playing)

Now to learn more about Shannon and her music, visit her website at www.khwb.com. Just click on 'more info' for Shannon's web address. Mia Gradney, WB39 News.