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Miracle Baby Story… three of them!

August 13, 2014 by Laura Elvin

Do you have a miracle baby story to tell? If so, we want to hear about it. Magazine editors and readers love reading heartwarming and uplifting stories that give hope to others, especially involving miracle babies where there has been a happy outcome. Read Michelle and Gary Harding’s story – they struggled to conceive for more than a decade and you can guess what happened next…

Pushing the trolley around the supermarket, while doing my weekly shop, I couldn’t help but gaze at parents with their newborn baby. Nappies, wipes and milk formula spilled out of their basket as they stocked up on the essentials.

Strolling up and down the aisles, new mums and dads were stopped every few paces by admirers, who stuck their heads over the pram. ‘Isn’t she beautiful’, ‘She looks just like you’, ‘Look at those chubby cheeks’, they cooed, while the proud parents gleamed with pride. Everywhere I looked there seemed to be happy families.

Broody, I had wanted to be a mum for as long as I could remember. When I was a little girl my favourite game was ‘mummies and daddies’ and I would happily play with my dolls all day long. But for my husband, Garry Harding, 35, and I, our dream of parenthood felt like it would never be a reality.

Childhood sweethearts, I was 16 when we met, Garry was 17 and in the year above. We married in September 2005 and as soon as we tied the knot we started trying for a baby. We both had siblings growing up and knew we wanted a big family ourselves. With nieces and nephews we’d had plenty of practice looking after little ones. But month after the month the home-testing pregnancy kits came back negative.

‘Don’t worry, it will happen eventually,’ Garry would soothe reassuringly as I moped around the house. Eventually after two years we realised I wasn’t going to fall pregnant naturally and we sought the advice of our GP who referred us to the fertility clinic at Southmead Hospital, Bristol.

The process was long and we underwent test after test to see if they could discover why we couldn’t conceive – but medics couldn’t find anything wrong with either of us. As there was no medical reason to stop me from getting pregnant we thought we would keep trying. For almost a decade we had tried and failing to start a family. We even resigned ourselves to thinking it might never happen.

My friends had started having children of their own and every time one excitedly announced they were expecting and pulled out an ultrasound scan I couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. But the niggling maternal urges wouldn’t budge and last year we decided to enroll into a NHS-funded treatment called intrauterine insemination (IUI) – which involved doctors selecting the fastest sperm from the man.

I had to inject my stomach every day to stimulate my ovaries, before the sperm sample was inserted directly into my cervix. Our first round of treatment in June 2013 proved unsuccessful. We returned for another round of IUI in September 2013. A few weeks later I held my breath and perched on the edge of the bath, pregnancy test in hand, to see whether we had finally conceived.

When a blue line appeared I burst into tears of joy. Garry heard me sobbing in the bathroom and from my reaction he immediately thought the worst. ‘We’ll try again,’ he promised, rushing in. But I shook my head and smiled, holding up the plastic stick. ‘These are happy tears,’ I whispered, in between sniffs. ‘I’m pregnant.’ Six weeks later I went to for a check-up scan at hospital.

Garry was desperate to be by my side but he had reached the World Masters darts competition so I encouraged him to go to it – even though it meant he was more than 200 miles away in Hull. Instead my mum, Lorraine, came with me to the appointment for moral support.

I had been curled around the toilet most mornings with severe morning sickness and the nurse told me she had an inkling I might be expecting more than one baby if I had been feeling so poorly. ‘Surely not,’ I said, brushing off her suggestion. But when she performed an internal ultrasound I had a surprise in store…

‘There’s one heartbeat,’ she smiled. ‘Oh… and another.’ Beaming, I turned to mum and she squeezed my hand excitedly. The nurse had been right. ‘Oh… and another,’ she chirped. Stunned, I welled up. We weren’t just expecting one baby – we were having three.

Mum had tears streaming down her cheeks too. Garry and I had waited for nine years for a baby and now three had come along at once. ‘Triplets? Are you sure?’ I managed to ask, trembling from the shock. ‘Definitely,’ the nurse replied.

She explained the pregnancy would be classed as high-risk. I would need to be monitored every three weeks to check all of the babies were growing at the same rate and developing well. By the time I left the hospital I had six missed calls from Garry. Still struggling to absorb the news, I rang him to drop the bombshell.

‘We’re having triplets,’ I announced. Laughing, he said: ‘Stop pulling my leg. How did it really go?’ ‘I’m serious,’ I told him. ‘We’re going to have three babies.’ I could tell Garry still thought I was joking, so I convinced him by sending him a video and picture of the scan. Stunned, he almost dropped his mobile looking at it.

After the initial shock slowly started to sink in, we began to get very excited about our impending arrivals. The 12-week wait to tell our friends and family felt never ending. We held a gathering at our house and Garry announced: ‘We’ve won the lottery – not just once, but three times over.’ Friends gasped when Garry told them: ‘Michelle’s pregnant and we’re having triplets.’

Knowing the heartache we’d been through they were over-the-moon for us. As soon as we were in the clear, we rushed out to buy a three-seater pushchair and changed our car so we would be able to fit the tots in. But when I was five months pregnant I was driving to my job as a pensions worker when a vehicle pulled out of a junction and ploughed into the driver’s side of my car.

A witness called the ambulance and I was taken to A&E to be checked over. Garry dashed to be by my side and we both breathed a huge sigh of relief when we were told the babies were all fine – if a little shaken up. But just three weeks after the accident and in my 24th week I started bleeding. I was warned that if it happened I would need to go to hospital for an injection as I have a negative blood type.

At hospital medics scanned me internally and found that my cervix was opening and preparing for labour. They worried the babies were about to be born, so I was admitted to hospital and placed on complete bed rest. Eight weeks later, at 32 weeks, I had a planned C-section on April 7.

Garry was by my side as our daughter Evie was delivered first weighing 4lbs 5oz. Millie following weighing 3lb 6oz and their brother Max came last at 3lb 12oz. We didn’t know the sexes beforehand so it was a lovely surprise and Garry seemed secretly very relieved that he wasn’t completely outnumbered by girls.

Our babies were popped into sandwich bags to keep their fragile bodies warm and they had breathing equipment placed on them too. I caught a glimpse of Evie, but I wasn’t able to see Millie or Max, before all three were whisked away to neonatal intensive care. As I recovered from the operation the nurses wheeled me down to see my babies.

The next morning I was able to hold Evie and later that afternoon I cradled Millie for the first time. Max was slightly poorly so I had to wait a few days before I could touch him. Garry and I couldn’t believe they were actually ours. After almost a month in hospital we were able to bring them home with us.

Now we have our hands full and our daily routine is planned with military precision to juggle feeds, bath time and cuddles, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. We had always wanted a family on the larger side, we just never imagined all our babies would come at once.

If you have a miracle baby story (or multiple babies!) and you would like to share your story, fill out the form on the right hand side of this page and find out how much you can earn. Your story will be in safe hands and nothing will be published without your consent. SWNS is the largest and most respected press agency in the UK. To learn more about selling your story, you can visit the Sell My Story page here.

Eye Tumour Face Rebuilt

December 30, 2013 by Sell My Story

FOLLOWING EYE TUMOUR SURGERY ANN HAD HER FACE REBUILT USING A COMPUTER

Ann had her face rebuilt using state-of-the-art technology following tumour surgery.

Discovering a large tumour had been secretly spreading across her face came like a ‘bolt out of the blue’ for Ann, 69. The grandmother was left with no choice but to have her jaw, left eye and some of her teeth removed. Surgeons used state-of-the-art technology to rebuild the left side of her face – which they replicated using bone from her leg. Ann had her face rebuilt – using a computer scanner.

It took over a week before Ann could bring herself to meet her reflection in a mirror but she is now looking on the bright side… And still keeping a close eye on her grandchildren.

Ann’s face was remodelled using a sophisticated computer programme

Ann, visited her GP when her frequent headaches were causing her concern. But the cause was not the sinus problem she presumed it to be but something far more sinister – a life-threatening tumour was growing behind her eye. Left undetected the cancer had been spreading rapidly across the left side of her face. To save Ann’s life surgeons had to remove a large portion of her jaw, her left eye, and numerous teeth to get rid of the cancer.

Once this procedure was complete, they began the painstaking work of reconstructing of her face using innovative computer technology to rebuild the damaged area. The technology allowed the team to electronically scan the opposite side of her face to build a 3D profile that surgeons could then replicate.

Ann says she is waiting for a prosthetic eye and for news on whether the cancer is gone for good

Ann underwent a ten hour operation in a mxillofacial unit which specialises in surgery for facial trauma, deformity and head and neck cancer. The operation involved surgeons taking a portion of bone from her leg to reconstruct her jaw, and a number of tissue grafts where arteries and veins had to be painstakingly re-connected using micro surgery.

Ann said: “I’ve always been healthy so it was a bolt out of the blue when the doctor referred me to hospital where the scan revealed a tumour. “The hardest thing to take was the loss of my left eye. ‘The surgeons told me it was just rotten luck but that I was lucky the tumour had been growing outwards rather than inwards. My father died of cancer but I was told that many types of cancer were now curable as long as they are caught early enough.’

“The hospital offered me a false eye but I don’t want that staring back at me every morning. I’m as fixed as I’m going to be and that’s good enough. My grandchildren asked if it would grow back. I told them it wouldn’t but I’d still be keeping one eye on them.”

“I can’t praise the staff enough. They kept me informed every step of the way and have been very caring and kind from the surgical team to the nurse who bought me a cup of tea in the small hours of the morning. I put my faith in the hospital and they saved my life. I told myself it could have been worse and am now focused on getting on with my life. You have to be positive.”

Nana’s Second Chance “I’ll be keeping my eye on you!”

Losing an Eye

If you have a prosthetic eye, you can do most things as normal – as soon as it is healed, you can wear eye make-up and play sport. Your range of vision will be affected and it may take time to come to terms with how you look – but other people probably won’t even notice.

For more information about the symptoms to watch out for if you think you could have eye cancer or a tumour behind the eye, please check out Cancer Research’s page: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-help/type/eye-cancer/about/symptoms-of-eye-cancer

Telling Your Story

If you would like to share a similar (or different) story to raise awareness and help those going through a similar situation, please contact us today. You can tell us a little about your story using the form on the right hand side of this page. You can also read more on our Sell My Story page.

Domestic Violence – Could Clare’s Law Have Saved Me?

November 25, 2013 by Sell My Story

‘NIGHT, NIGHT CATHY’

CATHERINE, 28, FELT SO LUCKY TO HAVE MET HER BOYFRIEND, ADAM, 31. HE WAS SUCH A GENTLEMAN AND TREATED HER LIKE A PRINCESS. BUT ADAM QUICKLY WENT FROM THE MAN OF HER DREAMS TO A COMPLETE NIGHTMARE WHEN HE SNAPPED AS CATHERINE QUIZZED HIM ABOUT HIS OBSESSION WITH HIS EX-GIRLFRIEND.

ADAM LAUNCHED A BRUTAL ASSAULT ON HER, PUSHING HER OVER AND CLASPING HIS HANDS AROUND HER NECK IN A FIT OF ANGER. ADAM STRANGLED CATHERINE AND LEFT HER GASPING FOR BREATH. SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS GOING TO DIE AS HE SNARLED ‘NIGHT NIGHT, CATHY’.

Watching as my boyfriend, Adam, 31, slaved away over the stove, while I sat with my feet up, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. ‘You’re such a domestic god,’ I giggled, as he prepared a romantic meal for the two of us. ‘What did I do to deserve you, eh?’ ‘Who knows?’ Adam laughed, lapping up the compliments. He was my very own Jamie Oliver and could whip up a storm in the kitchen.

Adam was the perfect boyfriend and treated me like royalty, never letting me lift a finger. I would come home after a long day to find he had ran me a steaming hot bubbly bath and he was constantly surprising me with thoughtful gifts.

Adam knew exactly how to charm me and make me feel special. I couldn’t believe he was the same man my friends had warned me about just months earlier. ‘He’s bad news,’ one had said, as she caught me messaging Adam back on Facebook. But I refused to believe it. We were always chatting online and he seemed nothing but nice to me. Soon we arranged to meet up in person for a drink.

CATHERINE, 28, FELT SO LUCKY TO HAVE MET HER BOYFRIEND, ADAM, 31. HE WAS SUCH A GENTLEMAN AND TREATED HER LIKE A PRINCESS.
BUT ADAM QUICKLY WENT FROM THE MAN OF HER DREAMS TO A COMPLETE NIGHTMARE

I worried our date would be full of awkward silences and we wouldn’t have much in common, but we hit it off straight away and spent the whole night chatting. He was tall, dark and handsome and just my type, so when he asked for my number I didn’t hesitate in saying yes. I couldn’t believe my luck when we became an item and made our relationship official. But my friends were still worried about me. They had heard rumours that Adam had attacked his ex-girlfriend.

When I confronted him about it he told me not to be silly. ‘It was more like the other way around,’ he protested. ‘She was crazy. She would just go for me, it was all in self defence,’ Adam insisted. He had given me no reason to doubt him, so I believed every word he said.

We moved in together and life seemed peachy. But it wasn’t long before Adam’s nasty side started to show. Once he even pushed me down the stairs. I couldn’t believe it when he told everyone I had fallen. I struggled to cope with his aggressive behaviour and I was constantly calling things off. But Adam kept coming creeping back and promised he would change. I would end up forgiving him and taking him back.

One evening, we decided to have a cosy night in, just the two of us. Adam said he wanted to treat me and planned to cook a Chinese for us both. ‘I better go and check on it,’ he said, chucking his mobile down on the coffee table and heading out to the kitchen. ‘Mmm… it smells good!’ I chirped.

Suddenly I caught site of Adam’s phone screen. He’d left it on the last webpage he had visited – it was his ex-girlfriend’s Twitter profile. ‘What’s this all about?’ I demanded to know, shoving the phone at him. I had my suspicions he was still infatuated with his ex. Suddenly he saw red and snapped.

Adam strangled me

‘I think you should leave,’ I said, before things got too heated. But Adam refused and started kicking off even more. I knew I had to get out of there, before he turned violent, so I ran for the front door to try and escape. But Adam grabbed me and threw me to the floor, locking the door and keeping hold of the keys to prevent me from going anywhere. ‘You won’t ever be able to do anything without me. You need me,’ Adam spat.

I stumbled up and tried to get out of his way, but he lunged at me again and pushed me over. Burly Adam straddled me, pinning me down, before wrapped his hands around my neck and squeezing tightly.

‘Please… Stop…’ I tried to utter, but the words wouldn’t leave my mouth. Writhing around on the floor, I was gasping for breath and thought I was going to die.

‘Night night, Cathy,’ he snarled.

Adam whispered ‘Night Night Cathy’ whilst he strangled me

He told me I would never see my children – who live with their dad – again. And I really thought my time was up. But suddenly Adam stopped what he was doing and burst into tears. ‘I shouldn’t have done that, I’m sorry,’ he said, tears streaming down his cheeks. ‘You know I love you.’ I knew if I tried to chuck him out or told him to leave me alone he would go wild again.

There was only one thing for it. ‘It’s ok,’ I whispered. It was far from ok, but I was terrified that if I told him that Adam would flip and there would be no stopping him this time. I forced myself to keep him calm and pretend as if everything was fine.

Adam wouldn’t let me leave the house. As I climbed into bed beside him, my heart leapt into my chest. I had to spend the night with a man who just tried to strangle me, acting as if I would normally, like nothing was wrong. I barely slept a wink.

The next morning Adam still refused to allow me to leave, he was fretting that I would tell someone what he had done. As the afternoon rolled around, I managed to convince him to let me go. ‘If I don’t pick the kids up from school their teacher will know something is wrong and call the police,’ I said. He knew I was right, so after I agreed to wrap a scarf around my neck to hide my injuries and wear a hat, he unbolted the door.

‘Ive changed’ Texts of shame. Adam grovelling after the attack, typical of many domestic abusers.

As soon as I was out of his sight, my hand shaking I called the police. When I heard Adam had been arrested I breathed a sigh of relief. At Oxford Crown Court Adam admitted causing actual bodily harm. He also admitted breaching a non-molestation order banning him from using violence against his ex-partner. I learnt he had had 19 convictions for 55 offences and a history of domestic violence against a previous partner.

The abuse he subjected me to appeared to mirror that of his former ex, although she never had the courage to testify against him. But she did come to court to support me and said thank you to me for reporting him and seeking justice. Adam was sentenced to 21 months in prison for the assault and six months for breaching his order, to run at the same time.

The judge told him: ‘This would have been a terrifying experience for any woman and particularly a woman who you knew was vulnerable.’

I am relieved he is out of my life.

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Today (25th November 2013) it has been announced that a pilot scheme to protect women from violent partners, known as Clare’s Law, is to be rolled out nationwide. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, is expected to announce the full implementation of the law which forces police to disclose details of a person’s violent past if their partner requests it. Read more here: Telegraph Article – Clare’s Law to be Rolled Out.

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If you have been the victim of domestic abuse or any other crime, and you’d like to speak out and help others in a similar situation like Catherine did, please get in touch with us using the form on the right hand side of this page. One of our friendly trained team will get back to you to discuss your story and give you the various options for getting your story told.

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HELP ME FIND HERO STRANGER WHO SAVED MY BABY

November 18, 2013 by Sell My Story

TINY BABY IMOGEN WAS BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD AFTER SPENDING FOUR MINUTES TRAPPED UNDER WATER IN A CRASHED CAR.

MUM BECKIE, 21, MANAGED TO ESCAPE WHEN SHE LOST CONTROL OF HER PEUGEOT IN A LANE IN SPALDING, LINCOLNSHIRE, AND IT FLIPPED INTO A FLOODED DITCH – BUT THERE WAS NO SIGN OF HER DAUGHTER. BECKIE BEGAN TO FRANTICALLY SEARCH FOR HER BABY – BEFORE SHE SPOTTED THE TOT’S TOES POKING OUT OF WATER.

SHE PULLER ‘BLUE AND LIFELESS’ IMOGEN OUT AND A PASSER-BY GAVE CPR UNTIL IMOGEN EVENTUALLY STARTED CRYING. THEY WERE FINALLY AIRLIFTED TO HOSPITAL AND BECKIE HAS NO IDEA WHO THE GOOD SAMARITAN WAS.

CAN YOU SHARE THIS STORY AND HELP US FIND HIM?

A mysterious hero stranger gave baby Imogen CPR and then disappeared. Mum Beckie would love to say thankyou.

My youngest daughter Imogen giggled with glee as she splashed about in her tiny baby bath. She loved spilling soap suds everywhere much to the amusement of her big sister Alexis, 6. Both girls loved their bath time and would always sleep well after a long soak in the tub.

“Goodnight girls,” I said as I kissed them on in the head in turn. As I walked downstairs I took a moment to glance out of the window at my new Peugeot 206 on the driveway. It hadn’t yet been two months since I’d passed my driving test and I was already loving life on the road and so proud of my first car.

Being a single Mum, juggling two children under five with my nurse training was always going to be a handful – but having a car made life so much easier and it got us into a nice routine.

Tuesday September 17th started like any other. I got the girls up and gave them their breakfast as I packed up my paperwork for college. Then once we were all ready I settled them down in the car as I drove off to Alexis’s school.

Once I’d waved goodbye to her at the gates and I began the journey to Imogen’s nursery as she gurgled away in the passenger seat beside me. I knew the road to the crèche like the back of my hand. Cars thundered down the lane at 60mph but I knew to be careful around those tight bends. Today was no different. I was following the road ahead with caution as we travelled around a blind corner.

My heart stopped for a second as I saw a van hurtling towards us at brake-neck speed. The driver had obviously moved to the centre of the road to get a better view ahead but there was no time for me to get out of the way. Instinctively I did my best to avoid a collision so I gripped my hand tight around the steering wheel and pulled it to the left. But things got out of control quickly and the car veered off the road causing us to hit a bank. The car was flying through the air and completely flipped over.

What happened next is all a bit of blur, but I remember being thrown around like a rag doll before I felt us land – not with a bump, but with a deafening splash. After that everything went quiet and all I could hear was my heart racing. I soon realised I had travelled to the back of the car. The force of the crash had ripped my seatbelt off.

Out of the window I could see we’d landed in a water logged ditch and the contents were gushing into the car.

‘I’ve got get out right now,’ I thought as I battled to kick the front doors free. They were both jammed shut so I tried the back and after a struggle I managed to wedge one of them open. When I eventually stood up my body was submerged in water. I was aching all over but I noticed the searing pain in my elbow above everything else.

The car keys had pierced and become stuck in my skin as we got thrown about. The adrenalin was pumping around my body so it looked much worse than it felt. There wasn’t time to worry about myself now I was free there was just one thing on my mind – Where is Imogen?

My heart was fluttering as I frantically scanned the murky waters for any sign of her. By this point time was ticking on and strangers who had heard and seen the crash came over to help. “Are you alright?” A voice from the bank cried to me. “My daughter’s still missing,” I sobbed back to them in despair.

It was then that I saw 10 tiny pink toes sticking up out of the dirty water.

My body jolted forward and I waded through as fast as I could to get her. As soon as I got close enough I lunged, grabbing Imogen by the feet to pull her up. She didn’t cry – she was completely blue, and lifeless. I later discovered she’d been under there for four minutes.

Not wanting to waste any more time I literally threw her to the nearest person on land. The man who picked her off wrapped her in his t shirt to try and warm her freezing body up. Then he laid her on the grass and began performing CPR as I scrambled up the bank to join them.

Watching him pump her tiny chest melted my heart. “Please let her be OK,” I prayed clasping my hands together. The stranger looked up at me with a look in his eye that seemed to say, ‘This might not work, please don’t pin all your hopes on me.” But he was all I had.

The man was pressing away at her chest for what felt like forever, but I was desperate for him not to give up, and thankfully he didn’t. He carried on tirelessly until Imogen let out a sob. It was the most beautiful sound I think I’ve ever heard.

Even then he kept on going – just to make sure she really was still with us. I literally watched him bring her back to life before my eyes.

Over the sounds of Imogen’s crying and my ‘thank you’s was the screech of an ambulance siren. I breathed a massive sigh of relief as I finally accepted that things were going to be alright.

As soon as the paramedics arrived the mysterious stranger leapt into his van and drove off. We never saw him again. I didn’t have time to ask anymore as I joined Imogen in the back of the ambulance and we set off to the hospital.

Luckily after having her stomach and lungs pumped to remove the excess water, she went on to make a full recovery. I call her my little miracle now. It’s shocking to think she was classed as dead for seven minutes.

The only time I think she’s aware of how close she came to something terrible is when I try and put her in the bath – she cries now when her feet touch water which is a complete change from how she was before.

A hero stranger saved my baby. I am just so grateful to the man who saved her life. Without his help I don’t know what would have happened, things could so easily have ended very differently. I’d love to personally thank him myself. I’d also love for him to meet Imogen and see how well she’s doing now – and let him know that’s all because of him.

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Too Fat to Fit in an Aeroplane Seat

October 15, 2013 by Sell My Story

BOARDING THE PLANE TO JET OFF ON HOLIDAY SHOULD BE EXCITING. BUT FOR CLAIRE, 36, IT WAS TOTALLY MORTIFYING.

TIPPING THE SCALES AT 23ST AND STRUGGLING TO SQUEEZE INTO A SIZE 28, CLAIRE DISCOVERED SHE WAS TOO FAT TO FIT INTO THE AIRPLANE SEAT. THE CREW WERE EVENTUALLY ABLE TO SECURE HER IN IT WITH A SPECIAL EXTENDED HARNESS TO REACH AROUND HER JELLY BELLY.

BUT THE HUMILIATION PROVED TO BE THE KICK-START SHE NEEDED TO FINALLY BEAT THE BULGE. CLAIRE IS NOW HALF THE WOMAN SHE WAS – A HEALTHY 11ST – AND SLIPS INTO A SIZE 10.

‘Passport? Check. Flip flops? Check,’ I thought to myself as I ticked the holiday essentials off the list in my head and placed them in my suitcase. There was just one more thing – my bikini. ‘Hmmmm,’ I groaned, as I dug out my swimwear from the back of my drawer. Tipping the scales at 22st 10lbs and bursting out of a size 28, the thought of baring all around the pool left me feeling queasy.

My husband, Neil, 35, and I had booked a ten day-long holiday and although I longed to soak up the sun, I dreaded all eyes on me as I paraded around with my jelly belly out. Still I was reassured by the fact that I wouldn’t know anyone in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and wouldn’t see any fellow holiday-makers again.

Despite being big, I always tried to look my best by accessorising my sandals, sarong and sunhat to match. But no matter what I wore I could never disguise my wobbly bits and draw attention away from my flab. After trying and failing to stick to every diet in the book, I had resigned myself to the fact I would always be large. To distract from my size, I adopted a bubbly persona. Constantly beaming from ear to ear, I would never let on how unhappy I was about my frumpy frame.

After being together for 14 years, Neil and I had got comfortable. I was a size 24 to 26 when we met, but after we tied the knot I gradually started to pile on the pounds. We would always opt for a cosy night in with a takeaway, which did my figure no favours. Before I knew it my waistline had ballooned to 52in as I guzzled a gut-busting diet of sweets, chocolates and crisps.

An emotional eater, I would pig out because I was so down about my size, using food to make me happy. But it was a vicious circle and as the larger I became the more miserable ended up. I would even secretly eat and hide food. In denial about my size, I hadn’t realised quite how big I had become.

So when January 2012 rolled around and we jetted off to Egypt I tried to push any little niggles I had to the back of my mind. Neil and I spent our time lazing around on sunloungers and bobbing around in the swimming pool. We only ever booked all-inclusive deals, so we could stuff our faces and would never consider doing any activities.

It wasn’t until the journey back to the UK that the enormity of my weight problem hit home. ‘Back to reality,’ I moaned, as we climbed the steps up into the plane back to Britain. Neil and I were unable to sit together on the plane, but I didn’t expect the flight to be too bad and decided to finish reading my book and get some shut eye. But my plan for peace and quiet quickly turned into a nightmare after I boarded and found I was too fat to squeeze into my seat.

I tugged it as hard as I could and held my breath, desperately trying to suck in my tubby tummy, but it was no good. ‘The belt won’t stretch over my stomach,’ I croaked to one of the flight attendants, welling up. My cheeks flushed crimson as I ended up making a scene in front of a plane packed full of passengers. I was officially too fat to fit in an aeroplane seat.

The crew quietly crept around me, but that didn’t stop me cringing as I could feel all eyes burning into me. Eventually I was secured into my seat with a special extended harness, but it was still a tight fit and it didn’t stop me from overflowing onto the poor people sat next to me. I was completely mortfied. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me and spent the five hour flight trying to stop myself from becoming a blubbering mess.

‘Enough is enough,’ I thought to myself and as soon as I set foot on dry land I vowed to finally beat the bulge. And flicking back through our holiday snaps left me even more determined to slim down once and for all. Stood infront of one of Egypt’s famous pyramids, I grimaced at the sight. ‘I look the same size as it,’ I cried.

The humiliation left me set on slashing my daily intake of 10,000 calories and turning my life around. I signed up to the Cambridge Weight Plan and ditched McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and dinner, instead opting for meal-replacement shakes, bars and soups and a calorie-controlled meal.

When I stepped on the scales, after my first week, the dial swung from left to right before revealing I had lost 13lbs. So pleased with myself, I finally thought, ‘I can do this.’ After swapping sugary snacks for salads, fruit and vegetables, I lost 20in from my waist. And just a year-and-a-half later I am a healthy 11st and can slip into a svelte size 10 with ease.

I’ve lost half my body weight and am now helping others to slim down in my role as a weight loss consultant. It has even encouraged Neil to shrink his portly 40in waist to an athletic 30in. We are no longer known as the ‘fat couple’. Now I feel – and look – like a completely different person. Shopping for clothes is no longer a chore and I am able to pick up fitted items I would never have dreamed of trying on.

In Next, before our most recent holiday, I grabbed a size 10 in a figure-hugging black maxi dress. But after trying it on the assistant said, ‘It looks to big for you, let me get you the next size down’. I couldn’t believe it and gasped ‘Is that really me?’ when I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror.

My last flight abroad was a totally different experience too. Not only was I able to get the seatbelt around me, there was loads of room to spare.

Too fat to fit into a plane seat!

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Bigger than the Pyramids

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