A woman lost a third of her bodyweight after getting so fat she was put into a COMA – at the age of 21.
Erin Townsend piled on the pounds after having two children and ballooned to a size 20 on a diet of chocolate, chips and takeaways.
At the age of just 21 she suffered a stroke and multiple blood clots which medics blamed on her excess weight.
She was put into an induced coma for three weeks as her brain started to swell and spent a further two months in hospital recovering.
After regaining consciousness Erin had to learn to walk and talk again and she decided to shed the pounds.
She joined a weight loss group and dropped more than five stone, reducing her diet to just 400 calories of milkshakes per day.
Now aged 26, Erin has since married her partner Tommy and is committed to her new healthy lifestyle.
She said: “After I had the stroke I decided it was time to lose weight.
“I was just 21 years old when I had a stroke, it was a bit of a freak thing really, I had a load of blood clots as well.
“I was put into a coma because I kept fitting – it was just their way of giving my body a rest really.
“I was unconscious for about three weeks and I then had to spend a further two months in hospital in a bid to recover.
“When I woke up the doctors told me I really needed to lose the weight or else there was a high risk that I would just have another stroke.
“When they were trying to explain why it might have happened they told me that my weight really didn’t help things.
“When I left hospital I was in a wheelchair. I had lost my ability to walk and talk due to the coma and I had to start over again.”
“Obviously I was aware that doctors told me I needed to lose weight but I couldn’t walk which made losing weight quite difficult.
“It was about four months after I came out of hospital until I can really walk again, and then I started trying to lose weight.”
Erin, of Lincoln, ballooned to 15 stone 8lbs after the birth of her two children and having the contraceptive injection.
At her largest she refused to go out with friends, would avoid looking in the mirror and would wear just all black items of clothing to try and make herself look skinnier.
She even refused to marry her long-term partner as she felt she was too fat to wear a wedding dress.
But after joining the Cambridge Weight Loss plan Erin lost more than five stone, now weighing, 10 stone 2lbs.
The mother says she has now been able to claim her life back and enjoy playing with her children – which her weight stopped her from doing before.
She said: “Losing the weight has really changed my life. One of my favourite things is the fact I can now go around the playground with the kids.
“Once when I was at my biggest I can remember getting stuck in the kid’s tunnel – one of the fabric ones – when we were having a race.
“I had to be cut out of it which was really embarrassing and the kids were really annoyed that I had ruined their toy.
“Now I can enjoy time with my kids and I can go around the park no problems whatsoever! Mummy is fun now and the kids absolutely love playing with their mum now.
“Since losing all this weight I have been given the all clear and told that the probability of me suffering another stroke has seriously declined.
“It’s great – I don’t need any more appointments or medication.”
