Dallas Attorney Shines Light On Eating Disorders After Daughter's Death

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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - After 32 years, Steven Dunn is walking away from a successful career. The Dallas attorney says his true purpose came into focus last fall.

The exact time and date will be forever ingrained in his memory:

11:31 p.m. on Sunday October 30, 2016.

That is when he lost his 23-year-old daughter Morgan to anorexia nervosa.

"She referred to us as twins. She was this gregorious person whose smile just lit up the room," said Dunn.

20 million women and 10 million men in the United States will suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some point in their lives, according to the National Eating Disorders Association.

Eating disorders are not a lifestyle choice and can be life-threatening.

Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any other mental illness.

It did more than reduce Morgan's physical frame. Her father says she weighed only 84 pounds when she was diagnosed with a leaking heart valve.

"Once this disease sinks its claws into you, it strips away your identity, who you are," explained Dunn.

Through her 6-year battle, Morgan managed to be a voice of hope for other young people struggling with the disorder.

Her father says she touched the lives of others she met at recovery residential programs.

"I seem to be able to save everyone else. I just can't save myself," Morgan wrote in her journal.

Dunn has started a Texas chapter of Project Heal, a non-profit that helps victims who can't afford treatment through grants.

He has also started a foundation in Morgan's name, dedicated to raising funds for brain research.

He says raising awareness is crucial to ending the stigma that keeps this killer lurking in the shadows.

"If you bring it out into the light, it can't live. That's what we're going to do," said Dunn

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week starts Sunday.

On March 1, the Bank of America Plaza in Dallas will be lit up in blue and green to shine a spotlight on eating disorders.

That same evening, the University of Texas at Dallas is hosting a seminar called "A Night with the Experts" to answer questions from the public.

The seminar will take place at the Davidson Auditorium from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.