After losing more than 16 stone through healthy eating and major lifestyle changes, 44-year-old Lisa Smith from St Helens, Merseyside, says she now faces a heartbreaking new challenge.
The mother-of-three revealed she may have to regain weight just to qualify for surgery to remove the large amount of excess skin left after her dramatic transformation.
Lisa’s health struggles began in 2008 after the birth of her son, when doctors diagnosed her with diabetes-related heart failure. At the time, she weighed 28 stone and says she was warned her condition was life-threatening.
“They thought I might not survive. I’d just had a baby and suddenly I was facing something terrifying,” Lisa recalled.
Determined to turn her life around for the sake of her children, Lisa completely changed her lifestyle and gradually lost over 16-and-a-half stone through healthy eating and determination alone.
Her BMI reportedly dropped from 70 to 28, and she went from wearing a size 36 to a size 8.
But despite the incredible achievement, Lisa says she was left physically and emotionally devastated by the amount of loose skin around her stomach.
She believed surgery would be available once she reached a healthier weight, claiming she had previously been told the NHS would help fund the procedure. However, after years of effort, she says she was later informed there was no funding available.
“I feel stuck in an impossible situation,” Lisa said. “I worked so hard to lose the weight, but now I’m struggling more than ever.”
Lisa also says the pressure surrounding the surgery requirements severely affected her mental health. According to her, being encouraged to lose even more weight contributed to her developing anorexia and bulimia while trying to meet the criteria for funding.
Even after reaching a much lower weight, she claims she was still denied support for the operation.