Woman claims to have gone 16 years without eating or drinking

Muluwork Ambaw of Ethiopia stopped eating and drinking when she was 10 years old


News Desk May 15, 2024
Muluwork Ambaw of Ethiopia lost her apetite and didn't eat and drink any thing since she was 10 years old. PHOTO: COURTESY/ODDITY CENTRAL

An Ethiopian woman has claimed that she has neither eaten nor drunk a glass of water in the past 16 years. Describing her condition as a "work of God," she remains a medical enigma, with numerous healthcare professionals unable to provide an explanation.

According to Daily Star, Muluwork Ambaw said that even doctors from India, Qatar and Dubai have medically checked her but none of them failed to explain her bizarre situation.

For almost three years, Ambaw has been checked by doctors in Addis Ababa. She was declared perfectly healthy and scans showed no food, no water or waste in her digestive tracts.

Ambaw stopped eating and drinking when she was 10 years old, suddenly losing the need for food and water. She still remembers the last thing she ate was a red lentil stew.

Drew Binsky, a Guinness World Record holder, adventurer and UK-based YouTuber, travelled to her home and asked about the strange situation.

Binsky asked her a simple question, “Is it true?”

"I used to live with my family, and they asked me to eat breakfast and go to school. I said I had eaten but I was pretending. I had lost my appetite for water or any food," said Ambaw.

Drew Binsky also found that Ambaw’s house is larger and more secure as compared to other neighbours and located in high walled compound.

“Stepping into Muluwork's living room is like entering another world,” Drew says. “There are posters on the walls and a variety of antiques that make it feel like we're stuck in a time capsule of her childhood,” Binsky adds. The toilet is a simple hole in the ground, which Muluwork never uses, although her daughter and sister do.

Ambaw loves gardening and cooking, but her appetite has diminished.

Despite the odds, Muluwork became pregnant and was given glucose infusions to nourish the fetus. However, she was unable to breastfeed the baby after birth.

Ambaw believes she will never be completely normal in her entire life.

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