Amy Winehouse_ The Biography - Chas Newkey-Burden [48]
After having her stomach pumped at the UCLH, she was then moved, with one newspaper claiming she was taken to the Priory in Roehampton, and another countering that she was actually recuperating at a luxury Hampshire hotel. Her father Mitchell would not confirm where she was staying, only that he was trying to get his daughter to eat. ‘She’s skinny as anything and dehydrated and looks like she’s just come from a concentration camp,’ he said. ‘She’s barely eating. She’s not sleeping. I try to get her to eat but that’s easier said than done. I know that if she doesn’t eat she’s going to die. There’s no reason for her to want to self-destruct like this.’
Wherever Amy went immediately after the UCLH, she ultimately ended up at the Causeway Retreat in Essex. It is an apt venue for any celebrity, since it has been written up in some very glamorous publications. Tatler magazine says of the Causeway, ‘We’re confident you’ll be in good hands.’ The Sun describes the centre as ‘state-of-the-art’ and compares it to a ‘5-star hotel with a gym, swimming pool and games room’, adding that ‘it’s even got a music therapy room’. London’s Evening Standard said, ‘The Causeway Retreat fans say its location makes it unique. It cuts people off from the world, quite literally, giving a sense of a new beginning.’ As for what the Causeway says of itself, its website boasts, ‘We have demonstrated great success in helping clients move beyond underlying problems and onto a path of true recovery.’
True recovery was just what the doctor ordered for Amy as she arrived at the Causeway. Within forty-eight hours, she reportedly visited a brain specialist in London for a brain check. This was because, during her overdose, she had experienced a seizure. A neurologist at Queen Hospital explained that this was a routine procedure: ‘The brain is an electrical organ so drug use can caused generalised discharges of electricity, presenting as seizures, which can be life-threatening. It’s routine for anyone who has suffered a seizure to have a scan for other damage or tumours.’
Asked about this story, Amy’s camp gave a firm ‘no comment’. However, a source close to Amy did reveal why she left the Causeway. ‘She was supposed to stay for a few weeks and sort herself out. But after a couple of decent meals she insisted she was fit to go home. She wanted to leave Tuesday evening. People close to her are devastated. But Blake wants her to return to normality – and we all know what their normality is.’
Not that, it seems, Amy and Blake were particularly missed back at the Causeway. The couple were accused of disturbing the peaceful atmosphere at the retreat, with fingers being particularly pointed at Blake. ‘It’s supposed to be a peaceful backdrop to help people deal with their problems,’ said an insider. ‘But Amy and Blake kept rowing and spoiling the ambience. While Amy would be welcomed back with open arms, I’m not sure they’d say the same for Blake.’
It was also said that, although Amy was the one seeking help, it was all too often Blake who hogged the attention. He also apparently upset staff at UCLH, too. This only strengthened the urgent resolve of Amy’s family to try to separate the pair, at least while Amy was seeking help. Very soon, that resolve was to become far, far more urgent.
On a Wednesday, in late August, Amy and Blake were staying at London’s posh Sanderson Hotel. Called ‘A glamorous heaven’ by the Sunday Times Style Magazine, ‘an urban oasis’ by Vanity Fair, and ‘the hippest hotel in the world’ by GQ, the Sanderson is one of the capital’s swishest hotels. The couple hoped that its opulent splendour would be a suitable venue for them to lick their wounds and recover from the turbulence of recent weeks. They had checked in on the Monday, and, when news reached Amy’s brother Alex that they had not left their room for forty-eight hours, he tried to visit his sister to check that all was OK. It is believed that,