WASHINGTON (CBSDC) — A 16-year-old English girl died after not going to the bathroom for eight weeks due to her phobia of toilets.

The Independent reported on Wednesday that Emily Titterington died from a heart attack in February 2013 after not having a bowel movement for several weeks – known as “stool withholding.”

Not going to the bathroom left Titterington with a compressed chest cavity and displaced organs.

“I could see that her abdomen was grossly extended,” paramedic Lee Taylor told The Independent. “Her lower ribs had been pushed out further than her pubic bone – I was shocked.”

Pathologist Dr. Amanda Jeffery told The Independent that the teen girl’s autopsy showed that she had a “massive extension of the large bowel.”

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“[It’s] like nothing I have ever seen before – it was dramatic,” Jeffery said.

Dr. Alistair James – who prescribed Titterington laxatives without examining her abdomen — says the girl’s death could have been avoided.

“Had I done so, we would be having a different conversation,” James told The Independent. “Her death could have been avoided with the right treatment at the right point.”

The Independent reports Titterington had mild autism and was suffering with bowel problems for most of her life.

According to the National Institute of Health’s website, “children often develop constipation as a result of stool withholding.”

“They may withhold stool because they are stressed about toilet training, embarrassed to use a public bathroom, do not want to interrupt playtime, or are fearful of having a painful or unpleasant bowel movement,” according to NIH.

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