A woman who was forced to climb into cars sideways due to her weight has shown her incredible journey after dropping from a size 20 to size 6.
Hannah Tosi, 26, from the Wirral in Merseyside, once weighed 18st and 9lbs, but her weight halved in eight months after she underwent gastric bypass surgery in Turkey.
The weight loss came after her old 4,000-calorie diet saw her regularly snacking on crisps and chocolate while eating fast food and microwaved meals, washing it all down with fizzy drinks.
It was when her car seatbelt would not fit over her stomach and hips that she realised something had to change.
She says she found out about the drastic surgery after her gastric band failed to work.
Ms Tosi told The Sun: “I couldn’t fasten my seatbelt in my car without going side first and then adjusting myself because my hips and stomach area would just spill over.
“I remember thinking, ‘Omg what have I done to myself?’ and I knew I needed to do something about this and take action now.
“I had just lost control of my life. I just looked at myself in the mirror and I couldn’t recognise myself both mentally and physically.
“My gastric band didn’t work so I had it removed and then I just ballooned to 18 stone.
“I know getting the gastric bypass surgery is a very drastic procedure but I couldn’t have done this without it.”
But now she says she has never felt better, now weighing 8st 13lbs, after years of struggles with her weight, “ballooning” to her heaviest recorded weight once the gastric band was removed.
She added: “I don’t think I have ever been this positive in my life and I feel amazing and it is so nice to be confident in myself and happy for once.
“Everyone has said to me that I look like a completely different person.
“I’ve had loads of comments from my friends.
“They’ve said I don’t even look like the same person anymore. I’ve lost more than half my body weight.
“I just couldn’t see myself getting rid of the weight on my own so I made the decision to get gastric bypass surgery.”
Gastric bypass surgery involves creating a small pouch using the stomach and connecting this new section directly to the small intestines.
This then reduces the majority of a person’s stomach and the first section of their small intestines to help them lose weight.
The surgery is offered on the NHS to those who are severely obese or who have a BMI of 35 to 40, while those wishing to go private will need to pay between £8,000 to £15,000 in the UK.
