Woman dies of starvation trying to emulate Christ

A devout Christian has died of starvation after telling her family she wanted to emulate Christ's 40 days in the wilderness.

Ten years ago, Rosaline Gilbert became a devout Christian and adopted regular fasting as a statement of her strong beliefs.

But finally, her body fatally weakened by years of intermittent starvation sustained only by water and her Bible, Miss Gilbert, 34, died at her home in Hackney, in east London, after going without food for 23 days.

Although a post-mortem examination failed to establish the cause of death and further tests are being carried out, Ms Gilbert's family believe that she had become dangerously frail from her extreme form of worship.

Her sister Juliet Gilbert, 36, who lives in New York, said yesterday: "She started her latest fast on March 19th - just drinking water and reading the Bible. We think she maybe hadn't drunk enough water. She was starving herself and it must have been just too much for her body to take.

"It is such a shock. She was a healthy young woman and the baby of our family. But she would have found some peace devoting herself to God."

She added: "She was very religious and she used to say she was a child of God. She was not any particular Christian denomination but she was so strong in her beliefs."

Her mother, Gloria Gilbert, 66, said yesterday: "She had been a Christian for a long time, at least ten years. She fasted frequently and would do it when the Lord told her to. Then she would start eating again."

Miss Gilbert, the youngest of eight daughters, had started her fast the day after returning to her home town of Gloucester for the christening of a niece, the last time her family had seen her, saying that she wanted to emulate the 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness of Jesus Christ.

She died on April 12 and was buried last Friday in Gloucester; an inquest has been opened into her death and adjourned until a date to be fixed pending toxicological tests.

After moving to London, she had trained as a carpenter, but mainly worked in catering and lived alone.

Her sisters said yesterday that despite her strong beliefs, she was a 'bubbly' person, who always dressed fashionably and was good with children.

Religious experts said yesterday that although fasting was common in many religions on such occasions as the Jewish Sabbath, Lent and Ramadan, cases of death were extremely rare.

"It is a very rare and unusual case," said Dr Marat Shterin, lecturer in the sociology of religion at Kings College in London.

"Traditionally, religious fasting has a very flexible role in all religions, with considerable creativity involved in what and when one can and cannot eat. Although we do not know what other factors are involved, such as the women's basic health, sometimes people can go over the top, particularly in some sectarian groups and cults. While some African churches do not actually encourage strict dieting, but the personal involvement of some of their members in religion can bevery intense."

Amanda Van-Eck, of Inform, the information service on new religious groups and movements, said there were no suggestions of any churches encouraging fasting in Britain.

"While it is possible that some small group has put an undue emphasis on fasting, it is more likely this was her decision."

Dr Asker Jeukendrup, a nutritionist at the University of Birmingham, said it was unlikely that 23 days of starvation would kill a normally healthy and average weight person, who would be able to stand 40 days of total fasting without serious ill effects.

But he pointed out that the longer someone goes without food the more the body becomes vulnerable to illness and infection.

He said: "In terms of fuel supply a normal person should have sufficient body fat to survive for forty days. However, you will compromise your immune system the longer you go on starving and that leave you vulnerable to attack from infections and so on. I would think that is the most likely explanation for this tragedy unless the post mortem tests find any other factors."


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