whether she was a young child or an old hag she had to be sat on the toilet to defecate , or laid on a rubber mat to have the stuff wiped from her ; an infant in arms or a cripple in a chair , she had to be carried if she was to get from one place to another ; a mass of flesh curled up in a foetus shape or a bundle of withered skin and bones , she had to reach out to some other creature for warmth .