Ashton Fisher, a 12-year-old boy from the UK spent over a decade living only on a specific brand of white bread and fruit yogurt before being diagnosed with food phobia.

Growing children require a healthy, balanced diet, but to say Ashton Fisher has had anything but that would be a gross understatement. Ever since he was two, the 12-year-old boy from Norfolk would get scared and begin to cry if his parents tried to feed him anything but Warburtons sliced white bread and strawberry and banana Munch Bunch yogurts. Although no one knows the exact reason why Ashton developed this bizarre food phobia, his mother, Cara, believes it might have been triggered by having reflux as a baby.

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“We’ve been so worried about him as he doesn’t get any of the nutrients he needs, but he physically hasn’t been able to eat anything else as he’d have horrendous panic attacks,” Ashton’s mother told Caters News.

The Fishers never even had Christmas dinner as a family, because Ashton couldn’t stand the smell of all the food, and his phobia also took a toll on his social life, as he never ate at school or at parties. It was actually his desire to fit in that eventually made Ashton realized his diet wasn’t normal, and seek professional help.

“Until recently, Ashton has been fine because he doesn’t know any different,” Cara said. “But his peers in secondary school have noticed he doesn’t eat and it has become awkward for him. He doesn’t want to be different.”

Whenever Ashton’s parents took him to his GP (family doctor) they always made the mistake of describing him as a fussy eater, so he was referred to see a dietician. That was a complete waste of time because his parents already knew he wasn’t eating the right things, they just didn’t know how to add new things to his diet.

Luckily, in July of this year, the Fishers took Ashton to see selective eating disorder specialist Felix Economakis, who, upon hearing his history, diagnosed him with Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). He has also been able to get the 12-year-old to try new foods, even though they aren’t exactly the healthiest.

Now, instead of simple white bread, Ashton is willing to munch on some ham sandwiches as well and has also tried a roast dinner, Pringles and McDonald’s chicken nuggets.

“It is still early days but things are looking good as Felix has given him the confidence to try new things. He now understands that the food isn’t going to make him vomit,” Cara Fisher said.

Ashton Fisher isn’t the only food phobia sufferer we’ve featured on Oddity Central. Over the years we wrote about a girl who only ate Margherita pizza for 8 years, or this Belgian man who has been eating fries for dinner for over 32 years.