A newlywed couple are celebrating their first wedding anniversary together – by starting military training ahead of being sent to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Corporal Benham Cook (corr), 26, and his Lance Corporal wife Sara, 23, met three years ago through the Territorial Army’s 123 Ammunition Squadron in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs.

They tied the knot on January 28 last year but instead of celebrating their first year of married life with a romantic meal, the couple are preparing for a six-month tour of Helmand Province.

Sara and Benham Cook on their wedding day

The couple in their army uniforms

They are currently training for their upcoming mission which will involve supplying ammunition and equipment to front line troops.

And despite being posted to Camp Bastion together, Benham and Sara are likely to be given separate duties and will only see each other at evening meals.

Brave Sara, who graduated from Keele University in 2011, joined the Army on the advice of her brother Nathan, who is also a Lance Corporal who served in Afghanistan.

Sara, from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs., said: “I’m really excited, as well as a little nervous.

“This is what we train for and, as a soldier, I think it’s something you have to experience.

“Although being in the TA means we don’t see each other as much as we like, I actually think it has brought us closer together – it’s a passion for both of us.

The couple on their wedding day a year ago. They will now be flying to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban together

“My family are very supportive, but a bit worried, so it’s comforting to them that my husband will be out there to look out for me.

“We are luckier than most in that we will be together during our training but if we are separated out there, it could be difficult, especially if one of us goes outside the wire.

“That said though, at least we will know what the other one is thinking and I imagine it will be easier than waiting at home.”

Husband Benham, who is in his eighth year with the TA and served in Iraq in 2007, added: “I joined because I saw the red sign for the TA Centre while driving through the streets and wondered what it was all about.

“This is my second major deployment and I can’t wait to be honest. This is what I joined the Army for.

“I can’t wait to get out there. Being in a relationship with someone in the Army has obvious difficulties, but when you’re both in the Army, it brings an entirely new set of problems.

“It would almost be easier for me if Sara was at home so I would know she was safe, especially if one of us has to go outside the wire.

“Having said that, at least I know I’m close enough to get to get to her if something bad should happen and we’ll see each other for short periods of time.

“We do have a bit of banter, but we’re like a big family and everyone has been very supportive.”

The couple have been nicknamed ‘The Cookies’ by their TA colleagues.

Lieutenant Colonel Colin Francis, who selected the couple for the tour, said: “I’ve watched them get to know each other over the years.

“They make a brilliant team. They are both excellent soldiers and will serve us well in Afghanistan.”

A brave burns victim has overcome her horrific childhood injuries – to become a model for High Street giant Next.

Stunning Labonya Siddiqui, 21, was permanently scarred over her lower face and upper body when a paraffin lamp exploded when she was just eight.

She spent years battling post-traumatic stress and hid her scar with scarves and heavy clothes to avoid bullies.

Brave Labonya has overcome great difficulties in her quest to become a model

But she has been spotted by fashion chain Next – and modelled at the opening of their new store in Burnley, Lancs.

Student Labonya, who uses minimal makeup to cover her scars, said: “The fact that Next has taken a chance on me and given me this opportunity is incredible.

“I’m honoured to be given the opportunity to raise awareness for burns survivors around the world as well as aspiring for my own dreams.

“I used to look at magazines when I was a teenager, wishing I was pretty enough to appear on the glossy pages.

“I was fed up of feeling sorry for myself, I was tired of letting my inferiority complex and insecurities making me vulnerable and so, encouraged by my friends, decided that modelling was the first step forward.

“I braced myself to face the lens and follow my childhood dream.

“I signed up to a number of modelling websites, but at first I got rejected because photographers don’t like to work with models with an unusual look.”

Stunning Labonya hopes her triumph over adversity will inspire others

Labonya’s accident happened in May 2000 when she was at home in Dhaka in Bangladesh where she was born.

She was trying to light a kerosene lamp during a power cut when it exploded and engulfed her in a fireball.

She said: “I’d picked up a match and lit it from the wick’s flame and held it close to the oil compartment.

“The match dropped and there was an explosion and in blind panic the maid threw the oil gallon at me.

“As all the kerosene covered me I was engulfed by flames.”

Labonya as a child, before her horrific accident

The terrible accident left Labonya in a coma for five days and doctors feared for her life.

Months of intensive hospital treatment were followed by numerous operations and in 2002 Labonya and her family moved to Burnley where her parents, both pediatricians, got jobs at the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

Labonya suffered post-traumatic stress and covered her scars for 12 years until a friend one day encouraged her to show her true face.

She said: “They pulled my scarf away and told me to try being without it. I remember the next day I walked into class with no scarf on and I was met with mixed responses.

“I faced severe bullying for almost the whole duration in high school which led me into depression for some time.”

Labonya, studying chemistry at Bradford University, said she now hoped to become a figurehead for other burns victims.

She said: “I want to represent all the burn survivors who have gone through similar experiences and I will continue to model.

“I hope when other people like me see my work they will find their own confidence and strength so that they will be just as comfortable being themselves as I am with my scars.”

A Next spokesman added: “We are thrilled to have Labonya here and it gives real glamour to the opening of our new store in Burnley.

“She is a beautiful girl and we wish her all the best in her modelling career.

“It just goes to show that beauty goes much more than skin deep.”

Police launched an investigation after a teenager who entered a beauty contest became the victim of jealous internet trolls who branded her “ugly”.

Lizzie Flint, 19, has been transformed from a ”bubbly, outgoing” girl into a “depressed reclusive” since entering Miss Cornwall 2012.

She was picked as one of the 17 finalists but within days was ”bombarded” with sick abuse which was repeatedly posted on her Facebook page.

Lizzie Flint was the victim of cyber bullies after becoming a finalist in a Miss Cornwall contest

The “evil” cyber bullies said she “didn’t deserve” to be in the competition and told her to quit or they would “smash her face in”.

She was also called branded “ugly” in the onslaught of more than 100 messages and called a series of viles four-letter names – including a ‘c*nt’.

Lizzie, of Helston, Cornwall, put up with the abuse for months and eventually lost out in the contest to another girl.

She says the bullying left her a depressed recluse who suffers terrifying nightmares about bullies throwing acid in her face.

Eventually she plucked up the courage to tell her horrified mum Mariana, 42, who called the police and three girls received official warnings.

Lizzie says the abuse she suffered left her depressed and has vowed never to enter another beauty pageant or follow her dream of being a model.

She said: “I don’t want to enter any more competitions or have anything to do with modelling any more.

“The cyber bullying has rocked my confidence but I’m determined to speak out so other people don’t have to suffer this sort of abuse.

Lizzie went from being bubbly and outgoing to depressed and withdrawn after being targeted by the trolls

“All of this bullying started on Facebook when I entered Miss Cornwall.

“I don’t like talking about the messages, they upset me so much. But I kept some of them so the police could use them for evidence.

“I remember one of them said ‘You’re a c*nt, you don’t deserve, to be in the competition’ it was just the word ‘c*nt’ all the time, I hated it.

“I used to get messages daily, horrible things written on pictures like I was ugly and things like that.

“I knew some of the people that were sending me them. Some days were worse than others, I got at least 100 messages in total.”

Mum Mariana watched her daughter’s confidence wear away before tearful Lizzie finally confided in her in June last year.

She said she had misgivings about her daughter entering a beauty contest and is convinced the subsequent abuse was fuelled by jealousy.

Mariana, a party planner who has two other kids and a stepson with BT worker husband Scott, said: “I was against the idea. I knew there would be jealousy from other girls.

“She hid it well from me but I noticed things changed in her, she stopped eating and became depressed.

“She had nightmares that someone was going to throw acid in her face. She was terrified and too scared to walk to school which is just five minutes away.

”I used to have to literally drop her at her classroom door.

“When she told me what was happening I was mortified and in tears. It had got so bad that people were even making fake profiles so they could befriend her.

“Some of the things that were said were pure evil. People would say they were going to smash her face in, threats like that.

“It is frightening to know that this sort of bullying can go on so easily behind a parents back.

“She was a giggly, soft-hearted girl before but now she has lost all trust in her age group.”

The family went to police and three girls were issued with official warnings and one wrote a letter of apology.

Lizzie is now training to work with children wants others to speak out about online trolls to bring an end to cyber bullying.

She said: “My family and friends are very proud that I have spoken out. No one in this world should suffer at the hands of bullies.

“The police were great in my case, they took action straight away and the bullies got a full warning. Now I’m slowly trying to regain all the confidence they took from me.

“I finally can go out with my friends and not have to look over my shoulder all the time.

“I’d like to say to the bullies you tried to knock me down when I was at my lowest, you didn’t, you got caught and now my confidence is back.”

A spokesman for the Miss Cornwall competition said: “Elizabeth entered last year’s competition. I was contacted by her mother about the cyberbullying and we dealt with it.

“I’m sorry for Elizabeth but there’s some things we cant control, cyberbullying being one of them.

“We have a page on Facebook ‘Miss Cornwall’ which is monitored and a few people have made comments on this year’s competitors, which were not very nice, but as soon as they make nasty comments they are banned and their comments are deleted.

“Comments made to Elizabeth were on her profile, which we don’t have control of.”

Two girls were given official police warnings about bullying Lizzie. No formal action was taken against the third girl.

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman said: “A complaint was made about violent and abusive Facebook and text messages towards the victim.

“Two girls were involved and were warned. One was given a final warning and the other was dealt with by restorative justice, neither went to court but both were given warnings.”

A mother who broke almost every bone in her body in a head-on car crash told how her five month old baby survived the collision – without a scratch.

Lisa-Marie Stoneley, 34, suffered life-threatening injuries in the horror smash, which happened as she travelled home with her family, including baby Faith.

Mother-of-two Lisa-Marie had two broken legs, fractured ribs, a cracked elbow, a fractured spine, a shattered pelvis and ripped cartilage in both knees.

Lisa -Marie Stoneley with baby daughter Faith Wood and partner Louis Wood

She also suffered a dislocated and fractured ankle, a dislocated toe. All but one of her vertebrae were damaged or broken.

Lisa-Marie’s partner Louis Wood, 36, and son Ryan Roe, 15, broke their knuckles in the collision, while Ryan’s friend Jamie Steer, 16, had a severed main artery.

Jamie, whose artery was severed upwards, spent weeks in intensive care and has only recently returned to school.

But Faith, now nine months, escaped the whole impact of the smash, on the B3168 at Bay Hill, Somerset, as she was strapped in to her childseat on the back passenger’s side.

Lisa-Marie, who spent eight days in a coma and a total of 10 weeks in hospital after the crash four months ago, said it was a “miracle” her family had survived.

Health care assistant Lisa-Marie, from Yeovil, Somerset, said: “We would normally have had Faith on the driver’s side of the back seat but for some reason that night we put her own the passenger’s side.

“I will never understand why we did it but as a result she missed the whole impact.

“I didn’t see Faith for five-and-a-half weeks after the accident. I was feeding her myself so had only been away from her for about an hour – so to go from that was really hard.”

The family were on their way back from Ilminster Carnival on October 6 last year when they were involved in a head-on collision with another car.

Lisa-Marie had to be cut free from the car by firefighters and was then rushed to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon.

She was placed on a ventilator after she stopped breathing and doctors were initially unsure if she would be able to survive her catastrophic injuries.

Surgeons have performed extensive surgery to fit screws to Lisa-Marie’s pelvis, as well as metal bars in both of her legs.

Lisa-Marie is still bound to a wheelchair and is awaiting further surgery – but hopes to walk again one day.

She has been told that she will not be able to return to her former career, which involves a lot of manual work.

“It’s baby steps at the minute,” she said.

“It is frustrating as I was very active before. The way I look at it is I could be really angry and really upset but then the only person who would be affected is me.

“I would rather look at it that we got out of it alive. I’ve got two legs and two feet, and I’ve got the opportunity to walk again.

“I would rather focus on the positive and get on with my life instead of thinking ‘what if’. We can’t change anything, it’s already happened.”

Charli Evans suffered a massive stroke but it saved her life — after doctors found a rare brain tumour

A lucky schoolgirl suffered a stroke that actually saved her life after doctors found a rare deadly brain tumour that could have killed her.

Charli Evans, 15, had been in constant pain for two years and endured crippling headaches and completely lost her appetite.

Playground bullies teased her about her shrinking size and a dietician said she was suffering from an eating disorder.

But despite repeated visits to her doctor and specialists Charli’s tumour was only detected after she suffered a stroke and collapsed at home.

Doctors told her parents Carol and Andrew, 43, that if she hadn’t suffered the attack the two-inch tumour would have remained undetected and could have killed her.

Charli had an eight-and-a-half hour emergency operation to remove the growth – with no guarantee of survival – and is now on the road to recovery.

She said yesterday (Fri): ” I just thought ’15-year-olds don’t have strokes’. It was horrible but it’s the best thing that has ever happened to me.

“I can’t really remember the stroke but I remember being scared and shouting.

“I had pins and needles in my arm, then it spread to my leg, then my face, then I couldn’t feel my tongue.

“When the doctor told me the worst possible scenario would be a brain tumour, I didn’t take it in. I didn’t think it was a possibility.”

Mum Carol, 47, said: “It was a nightmare. You think that these things happen to somebody else, you never think that it could happen to you.

“The type of tumour that Charli had – haemangioblastoma ([corr] – was uncommon and usually forms on the kidneys or the liver so doctors were baffled to find it on the brain.

“They’d never seen it there before.

“They told us that if it wasn’t for the stroke then it wouldn’t have been detected.”

Charli’s health problems started in October 2010 when she was just 13.

She was taken to the family doctor near her home in Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, complaining of a loss of appetite and a lack of energy and was diagnosed with glandular fever.

But her condition deteriorated and her weight dropped dramatically.

The Lasswade High School pupil was constantly tired and had to give up playing football as training sessions became too much.

Charli tearfully recalled: “It was gradual. It started off with me not wanting to eat breakfast then I wouldn’t want to eat lunch and then I wouldn’t want to eat anything on a daily basis.

“I didn’t want to do anything, I didn’t want to go anywhere and I didn’t want to see anyone. I didn’t feel well enough to go out. It was horrible.

“I just got thinner and thinner. I used to get teased every day and I didn’t want to get changed for P.E. because people looked at me funny.

“I was sick of people telling me that I had an eating disorder and that I had an issue with food.”

The real cause of Charli’s condition only emerged after her stroke last September when an MRI scan revealed a benign two-inch tumour growing upwards towards her skull.

She has since gained over two stone in weight, rediscovered her appetite and is attending school a few days per week.

Carol, a security officer at Edinburgh University, said: “People need to be aware that just because kids are young doesn’t mean that they want to look like size-zero models.

“The stigma of kids not eating because they want to be thin and like models is not always the case.

“Looking back I feel relieved. As a mother I’m delighted that she is back with all her friends and doing what she has wanted to do for the past two years.

“Our life has changed as a family and we take every day as it comes. I know it can only get better now.”

Around 4,300 benign tumours of the central nervous system are diagnosed each year in the UK but of these only two in 100 are haemangioblastomas.

Martin Ledwick, head information nurse at Cancer Research UK, said: “It’s important that any symptoms in children are taken seriously and any unexplained symptoms should be investigated if they persist.

“But the signs of brain tumours can be quite vague and hard to identify and most GPs and A&E departments will hardly ever see a case.”

A “ditzy” blonde TOWIE fan was today revealed as the brainiest Essex girl ever – with an IQ higher than Einstein.

Super-intelligent Lauren Marbe, 16, stunned teachers by scoring 161 on the Mensa brain test after she was entered with other pupils from her school for fun.

The “normal” teenager loves fake tanning, blonde highlights, manicures and getting glammed up for TOWIE parties with her pals.

Lauren Marbe, 16, from , Essex, who has an IQ of 161 which is smarter than Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, and Stephen Hawking

She is the daughter of black cab driver and dreams of one day being a performer in the West End – like Essex celebrity Denise Van Outen.

But her amazing brain test score means she is now officially smarter than Prof Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates and even Albert Einstein – who all have an IQ of 160.

Brainbox Lauren has been enrolled in prestigious high-IQ society Mensa, which means she is officially in the top one per cent of cleverest people in the world.

The schoolgirl, who is already predicted straight A’s and A*’s for her GCSE’s, yesterday (Tues) said she was delighted to have “blown away” the Essex stereotype.

Lauren, of Loughton, Essex, said: “It was such an achievement and I got a bit tearful to tell you the truth.

“I was one of the last people to get my result and everybody before me had got around the 130 mark so that was the kind of result I was expecting.

“My teachers knew I was quite clever because of my grades but they had always thought I was blonde and a bit ditzy.

“Now they keep saying ‘I didn’t realise you were that clever’.”

The teenager, who loves to look “reem,” or great, added: “I am blonde, I do wear make-up and I do go out.

“I love my fake tan and fake nails as well so I guess I am a bit of an Essex girl in that sense.

“I watch TOWIE and I love the programme, it’s addictive but now most people do seem to think that’s what everyone in Essex is like.

“I love living in Essex and I’m glad that I might be able to show people that we aren’t all ditzy and blonde.”

Lauren, a pupil at Roding Valley High School, Loughton, Essex, took the Mensa-accredited IQ test earlier this month along with other high acheivers at her school.

The dedicated pupil – head girl of her primary school and currently a prefect – was already considered bright after scoring a double A* in her science GCSE, which she took a year early.

But she was stunned when she received her results, showing she has a higher IQ than some of the world’s greatest minds.

She is now aiming to take A-Levels in art, physics and maths after her GCSEs, this summer, and would love to study architecture degree at the University of Cambridge.

But talented Lauren admits she is torn between her academic ability and pursuing her dream of becoming a professional singer and dancer.

The prodigal teenager has already performed in the West End for two years as part of the chorus for Andrew Lloyd Webber smash-hit Joseph, with Lee Mead, from 2007.

Lauren, who lives with her family in a £350,000 semi-detached house, still takes dance classes and singing lessons, records music and takes part in Stage One drama school.

Her proud parents, father David Marbe, 45, a London cabbie, and mother Sue Marbe, 45, deputy head of a primary school, say they will be happy whichever path their gifted daughter chooses.

The baffled couple also admitted they have no idea where their daughter’s super brains come from.

Mum Sue Marbe, 45, said: “Living in this area there is a lot of pressure to be the stereotypical Essex girl but she has a a real nice support from the other girls.

“Most of the time Essex gets a bit of a negative press. People think all girls are blonde and all girls are dim.

“Lauren is blonde but it does seem like she has shaken the stereotype that all Essex girls are stupid.

“She does love TOWIE but she sees it as what it is. A lot of the young people in Essex think that it is one of the only ways to be successful.

“Lauren and her friends aren’t as bad as some of the girls in the area but they do like to dress up and look good.

“Essex girls are all well groomed and Lauren isn’t any different. Her and her friends like to go out and get dressed up in nice clothes.

“There’s nothing wrong with the TOWIE cast and everyone in Essex loves the programme but its just nice for us all to get a good reputation for academic success for a change.”

Mum said: “Obviously I am really proud. I am quite shy and I don’t like boasting but I am really pleased that she has done so well.

“All her teachers have been coming up to her and saying they didn’t realise how intelligent se actually was.

“I don’t know who she got it from. Me and my husband should get tested as well.”

Headteacher of Roding Valley High School – a specialist performing arts college –  said: “In a time where the media and Government criticise our youth for their supposed ignorance and superficiality it is even more vital to celebrate and encourage intelligence.

“It is these bright young things which we hope – with the guidance of a good education – will become the future leaders of our society.”

Einstein himself never took an IQ test as none of the modern intelligence tests existed during the course of his life.

But experts have believed for a number of years now that the iconic scientist had an IQ of around 160 – just short of Essex’s brightest teen.

The Calculated IQ Estimates for 301 Historic Geniuses published by American Psychologist Catherine Cox Miles has calculated the IQ of Einstein and a number of other historic figures.

The IQ test is designed to test a range of abilities to determine the level of intelligence of the student – in the UK the average score is 100.
ENDS

Glamour gran Marion Finlayson has made a comeback as a model – at the age of 80.

The sprightly pensioner first modelled as a teenager in the 1940s but gave it up to concentrate on a teaching career.

But last year she was tempted back onto the catwalk to take part in a charity event and found herself being chased by two agencies.

Marion Finlayson modelling in the 1950s

Marion, aged 80, making her modelling comeback

She said: “It’s all go at the moment, I’ve never been busier since appearing on the catwalk last year.

“It’s great fun and I’m just happy to still do something I enjoy. I’m turning 81 next month so I think I’m doing all right.

“When I meet ladies that I went to school with I sometimes feel like I’m with completely different people.

“They’re often talking about their pills and their blood pressure, but I don’t have any of that yet, I’m as well as I’ve ever been.

Marion, who has two grandchildren, was a teacher at Albyn School in Aberdeen where she lives.

She made her catwalk comeback last August at a local 50 Plus Festival as she recovered from the death of husband Bruce after 54 years of marriage.

Marion keeps in shape with pilates and yoga and has now signed up with Glasgow-based agency Colours

Marion then wowed millions of viewers when she appeared on ITV’s This Morning show with Eamonn Holmes the following month.

She said: “I couldn’t believe it – they phoned up and just said ‘we’d love you to come on the programme, would you like to do it?’.

“I didn’t even think twice about it and just said ‘all right’.

“They flew me down to London where I was met with a huge limousine and they said the last person sitting in it was Holly Willoughby, so I thought ‘oh well, this isn’t too bad’.

“They took me to a hotel, I stayed there, had dinner and then they picked me up the next morning in the car again and took me to the studio.”

Marion now clocks up hundreds of miles a week travelling by bus from Aberdeen to Glasgow – using her free pass.

She added: “I do some modelling in Aberdeen but I’m mostly in Glasgow.

“It’s a lot of travelling but it doesn’t bother me as I’ve got a bus pass so I can go down whenever I like.

“I’m really happy with what I’m doing and I hope to carry on for a long time.”

Rosalynd Ramage, who runs Colours, said: “The world is Marion’s oyster.

“It’s wonderful that she’s being recognised in her own right as a model and is an inspiration to other women her age.

“Women don’t stop being interested in fashion or beauty when they reach a certain age, so it’s only fitting that older models are being used to promote products to them.”

Pamela Doyle, 31, shows off her svelte new figure after getting jilted at the alter for being too fat

A tubby bride-to-be who was jilted at the altar because she was too fat had the last laugh – after shedding seven stone.

Pamela Doyle, 31, was devastated when her long-time boyfriend dumped her ahead of their fairytale big day at a castle.

He told her he was fed up with her ”weight issues” and Pamela was forced to call off the wedding – losing a £2,000 deposit on the venue, band and piper.

But the shock jolted her into finally doing something about her size and she ditched her dodgy diet of curry, burgers, crisps and two litres of Irn-Bru a day.

And in one year Pamela, of Glasgow, Scotland, has gone from 17 stone to 10 stone and dropped from a dress size 24 to 12.

She says her ex-boyfriend  - a serving soldier who she does not want to name – has been left “stunned” by her new model-like appearance.

Pamela said:  ”He ended the relationship because of my weight and the issues surrounding it.  It was making him miserable.

”I was devastated but it was just the thing I needed to spur me on to lose weight.

“When I was 17 stone I had no confidence and I was very unhappy. I used to hide away and I wouldn’t go out.

Pamela aged 28

Pamela aged 23

Pamela with a pair of her old jeans when she was a size 24

“I even did my shopping online because I couldn’t face people. Now I feel amazing.

”I have regained my confidence and I don’t think my ex could quite believe his eyes when he saw me.”

Call centre worker Pamela and her boyfriend first got together when they were 17,  when she was a size 14.

She said:  ”I steadily put on weight throughout my teens and my twenties and things got gradually worse.

“On a typical day I would have macaroni cheese and chips for lunch, snack on crisps and chocolate, then have curry followed by ice cream for tea.

“I was comfort eating because my boyfriend was in the forces and he was often away for long periods.

“I would eat large Big Mac meals and drink two litres of Irn-Bru a day.

Pamela wearing her old jeans

Pamela in a sexy black dress

“My weight made me feel very depressed. I was moody and when my boyfriend came back I would hide myself away and not come out of the bedroom.

“He kept on at me about eating healthily and he tried to help me but I was difficult to be with.

“He proposed to me in 2009.  I was still about 17 stone then and I made token efforts to control my weight.  I’d go to one or two classes, lose a couple of stone and then give up.”

The couple were due to wed last August at Airth Castle in Sterlingshire, Scotland.

Pamela said: ”We’d put deposits down on the venue, the band and even a piper.

“But last March he came to me and said he wanted to end the relationship.  I have to admit I was difficult to be with and I don’t blame him.

“I was absolutely devastated but it was the spur I needed to finally do something about my weight problem.”

Pamela contacted personal trainer David Wilson of Rapid-Hypno Fitness, who uses a combination of hypnosis, psychology and gym training.

David said: “We did hypnosis to work on her mental attitude because when she came to me she was very emotional and had a lot of negative thoughts.

“We worked on that before making a start on the physical side. She has been doing interval training – 30-minute sessions five or six times a week.

“It involves cardio-vascular exercise – bikework and treadmill training.

“Pamela really is an inspirational example of what can be achieved.  A lot of people come to me wanting to lose a lot of weight and they don’t think it’s possible.

“But Pamela has shown that with hard work, determination and a change of mindset from negative to positive, you can achieve great things.”

Pamela, who now weighs just under 10 and a half stone, is still in touch with her ex-boyfriend and said she has not ruled out a reconciliation.

A new mum told today how she gave birth on the toilet – just hours after being sent home by midwives who insisted she wasn’t in labour.

Gemma Wotherspoon, 28, phoned the hospital when she developed severe back pains on her due date to let midwives know the baby was coming.

But despite showing the classic signs of contractions, nurses assured her the birth was imminent and instead advised her to stay home and take paracetamol.

Gemma Wotherspoon with her son Ryan aged 4 months in the bathroom where she gave birth

When the pain got worse her husband Alistair, 30, drove her to Penrice Hospital in St Austell, Cornwall, to give birth.

But after being examined nurses again insisted that she was not in labour and discharged her with “back pain”.

Gemma gave birth just two hours after arriving back at home, while sitting on the toilet.

The furious mum, from Bodmin, Cornwall, yesterday slammed midwives for sending her home and described her care as “shocking”.

She said: “After they sent me home from hospital I tried to sleep but by 2.30am the pain had got much worse and I couldn’t get comfy, I had all the signs that I was in labour.

“I felt the urge to push so I went to the toilet to try and ease the pain but when I realised what was happening I just sort of gave birth.

“I shouted to Alistair to grab his head, but before I knew it Ryan was in my arms.

“I just took one push and he was out, I had him in my arms and thankfully he was just crying and crying.

“Alistair called the paramedics and they were here within about seven minutes.

“I can’t believe they kept sending me away, it’s shocking. Luckily we were all ok, but imagine if we weren’t. It’s a very scary experience.

“The back pains were consistent, it was going and coming every five to ten minutes to begin with and then as the evening went on it got quite quick and then got to less than a minute apart.

“To be quite honest I don’t see the point in the hospital being open if they don’t use the facilities.

“Clearly I was going to have him but they still sent us home. I think the midwife just wanted an early night.

“I’m very angry with how I have been let down.”

Gemma, from Bodmin, Cornwall, was elated when she found out she was pregnant with Ryan after tragically suffering three miscarriages following the birth of her first child, Jasmine, in 2010.

However, as the birth of her daughter was induced, the mum-of-two did not know what the beginnings of natural labour felt like.

Gemma began to experience back pains on her due date, October 27 2011, and she rang her former-midwife auntie who told her she was in early labour.

She then called the local hospital where she was instructed to take paracetamol, have a hot bath and contact them again when her contractions were 50 seconds apart.

When the contractions got worse Gemma begged Alistair, a baker, to take her to hospital where she was sent home by a midwife.

Gemma added: “I rang up and a midwife told me to watch and come into hospital when my contractions were 50 seconds apart.

“The contractions started getting closer and closer and I rang up the hospital three more times and spoke to a different midwife who told me that if I came down they might send me straight home again.

“I think she thought I was being a bit of a drama queen and complaining about backache.

“I finally went down to the hospital at about 11.30pm where, during a speedy 25 minute appointment, she told me I was just 1cm dilated and was just suffering with back pains and sent me straight home again.”

But only two hours after she returned home Gemma gave birth to Ryan, who weighed a healthy 6lbs 13oz, on her own in her bathroom while frantic Alistair called paramedics to help.

On arrival doctors cut the umbilical cord and checked over Ryan before giving both mum and baby a clean bill of health.

Gemma later complained to the hospital, which apologised and agreed to reimburse her for any furniture that got ruined during the birth.

Have you been affected by a hospital blunder? Irwin Mitchell Solicitors can help you claim Medical Negligence Compensation.

Jessica Yates with the same kind of umbrella which she was impaled on

Reveller Jessica Yates was brolly unlucky when she fell off a hotel bed – and impaled her face on her umbrella.

The tip of one of the metal spokes rammed into her nose and pierced down through her gum and into her mouth .

Friend Laura Sullivan dialled 999 as the black and green brolly was stuck fast and too painful to pull out.

Stunned Jessica, 22, slowly stood up – and went to meet the paramedics with the umbrella hanging from her face.

She was rushed to hospital where most of it was cut away to leave a six-inch spike still embedded through her nose.

Single Jessica was sent to a second hospital where she was given a general anaesthetic to have it surgically removed.

The shoe shop manager from Solihull, West Mids., was discharged the next day with several stitches – and the remains of the brolly.

The freak accident happened as Jessica and Laura shared a twin room in Watford, Herts., after a girls’ night out.

They spent the night drinking in local bars and walked back in pouring rain to their hotel around 2am.

Jessica threw her dripping, pocket-size brolly onto the floor where it landed still open and upside down.

She then collapsed onto her single bed – and immediately fell off it face-first onto the up-ended umbrella.

Jessica said: “I was a bit drunk and didn’t realise what had happened at first.

“Then as I got up off the floor the umbrella came with me, stuck to my face.

“I put my fingers to my nose and I could feel the metal sticking out.

“The tip of the brolly had gone right into my nostril, through my face and into my mouth.

“I touched my nose and there was blood all over my hand. It was horrible.

“Luckily I’d drunk so much it didn’t really hurt at first but I couldn’t feel my face.”

Jessica added: “It was a really freakish accident – and because I was drunk it didn’t really hurt until the next day.

“But I was lucky in some ways – the doctor said if it had gone an inch higher I would have had to have facial reconstructive surgery.

“They were so amazed at the hospital they asked if they could film it and gave me the end of the brolly as a souvenir.”

David and Katy Slade (back) with their surrogate baby Beatrix born from Katy’s sister in law Jamie Allan (front right) from eggs donated by her sister Lucy Marks (front left)

A couple unable to have children are finally the proud parents of a baby girl – after using eggs donated from one sister and the surrogate womb of another.

Primary school teacher Katy Slade, 31, longed to start a family with husband David but was prevented by a rare genetic condition which left her without reproductive organs.

Her big-hearted younger sister Lucy Marks, 27, came to her aid by keeping a childhood promise to donate her eggs which were then fertilised by David.

David’s older sister Jamie Allan, 35, then stepped forward and offered to be their surrogate mum.

Katy and David’s dream has now come true and they are mum and dad to baby Beatrix.

Overjoyed Katy, 31, said: “If it wasn’t for our sisters we would still be childless. It’s the best gift ever and we love them so much for it.

“I always knew I wanted to be a mother – it was just a question of how.

“Lucy actually lives with us and is very close to Beatrix – although she doesn’t feel emotionally bonded to her like a mother would.

“Beatrix is very much our own – our own little miracle.”

David, 33, a tattoo artist, added: “We still can’t believe we are parents, we feel like the luckiest couple alive.

“Beatrix is our little angel and we’ll be forever thankful to our sisters for making our dream come true.

“Without them things would have been so much harder.”

Katy knew she would never be able to have a baby since her own childhood when her periods failed to start.

Katy with surrogate mother Jamie (right) and egg donor Lucy ( left)

She tearfully told sister Lucy she didn’t feel like a real woman – and Lucy promised her she would donate her eggs when the time came.

Katy met David in 2003 and were together for six years before they started to seriously talk about starting a family.

When she told him about her condition he suggested adoption or surrogacy and in 2010 they started planning IVF.

Katy asked Lucy if she was still serious about donating her eggs and was delighted when she told her she would keep her lifelong promise.

But she was not willing to carry the baby because she had a boyfriend and it would make if feel like she was pregnant with their own child.

Katy added: “I cried when Lucy said she would still donate her eggs for me.

“It meant that genetically the baby would be linked to both me and David.

“But we knew she wouldn’t be a surrogate too because the baby would feel too much like hers if she carried it.

“She also had a boyfriend and no children of her own and it would have been hard for her to have her first pregnancy and then hand the baby to me.”

Katy and David started exploring the possibility of finding a surrogate stranger – but were put off by stories of some who dropped out or became too attached to the baby.

David was chatting about their problem with older sister Jamie over dinner one night when she casually told him: “I’ll be the surrogate.”

Married Jamie said that, after having three children of her own, her family was complete and she would love to help them.

Katy and David, of Romford, Essex were not eligible for free IVF treatment on the NHS and used money inherited from Katy’s nan Eileen to fund the #8,000 private cost.

They underwent a series of interviews, counselling and various blood tests before they were accepted.

David’s sperm was frozen – but they then had to wait another six months while it was routinely screened for STDs and any other medical conditions.

Meanwhile, Lucy had daily hormone injections to produce more eggs and Jamie underwent hormone injections to build the lining of her womb.

Just two embryos were created when David’s sperm was mixed with Lucy’s eggs and they were implanted into Jamie’s womb in December 2011.

On Christmas Eve Jamie told Katy she was being sick and tests confirmed the best possible present they could have – the news that she was pregnant.

At five months Katy and David found they were expecting a girl and they decided to call her Beatrix – the middle name of the nan whose bequest financed their treatment.

Jamie was induced on September 1st last year and tearful Katy said: “I held her for the first time and looked at Lucy, Jamie and David.

“It was incredible that every single one of us had helped bring Beatrix into the world.”

Lucy said: “I was really glad to be able to help and when we found the treatment had worked first time I was over the moon.

“I just adore Beatrix – she’s absolutely wonderful.

“But although my eggs were used to create her, she will always be my niece.”

Jamie, who runs an after-school club, added: “Carrying the baby was something I was happy to do for them.

“The pregnancy was normal just like my others and the delivery was straightforward and my mum, Katy and David were in the room.

“Obviously I knew from the start that she wasn’t mine and I focussed on that and I will always see her as my niece.”

Here’s one teacher who shouldn’t have too many problems keeping pupils in school – by working after class as a bra model.

By day Laura Butler, 26, teaches psychology and dance to sixth form students but in her spare time she also strips off her work clothes to pose for saucy photo-shoots.

The stunning blonde, who boasts mouth-watering 30GG boobs, was first spotted in 2008 after coming third in a national ‘Star in a Bra’ competition for curvy women.

Teacher Laura Butler modelling lingerie

Laura has 30GG boobs

Laura’s dance and psychology lesson’s are the students’ favorite classes

Since then she was employed by modelling agency Curvy Kate and has featured in glossy mags across the globe.

Now Kate, from Birmingham, is on the hunt for other young promising models to take part in a competition to become the next top model.

She said: “It was around this time five years ago that I began modelling for Curvy Kate.

“This was a few years previous to me wanting to be a teacher.

Laura in silver lingerie

Laura shows off the black bran and knickers

Blonde Laura was plucked from obscurity in 2008

“I had never wanted to teach so never thought modelling would get in the way. Fortunately, it hasn’t – despite my students knowing.

“I think people should enter because everyone should do something extraordinary in their life and this ticks all the boxes. I should know as I have ticked them.

“I am not a shy girl, so confidence was never something I was lacking.

“But Star In A Bra seemed to cement that confidence and it really shines through now in all I do.”

Unassuming: Laura in her everyday clothing

The annual competition to find full-figure models has proved a massive hit, with thousands applying each year.

Hannah Houston, marketing and PR manager for Curvy Kate, which offers D-K cup bras for more voluptuous women, said: “We truly believe our customers should model our lingerie as these are the girls who will be buying it.

“Our model search is here to prove how gorgeous a shapely figure looks in lingerie.

“Every single one of the girls bring their own spark and personality to the brand and our customers can see exactly how our lingerie would look on a shape similar to theirs.”

A woman who dropped from 20 stone to just six after undergoing gastric bypass surgery now has to consume 5,000 calories a day – just to stay alive.

Julie Dunbar, 51, lost a staggering 14-and-a-half stone in 12 months after a rare complication caused her body to stop absorbing nutrients.

She ended up dangerously malnourished and close to death in hospital before doctors diagnosed the condition and prescribed a remedy – eating as much as she can.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Julie Dunbar who eats a staggering amount of food each day after surgery to reduce her weight left her with a small stomach which is unable to properly process the food she eats

Pub landlady Julie now has to eat constantly throughout the day as her body can only ingest a tiny fraction of the total calories she takes in.

During a typical day she will get through half a block of cheese, a whole packet of smoked salmon, a dozen biscuits, cake, a curry, shepherd’s pie and bags of sweets.

But despite having the freedom to eat what she likes, she describes her constant need for food as a “chore” which is like a full-time job.

Julie said: “No one believes what I eat on a normal day, our food bill is phenomenal. It must cost about £200 to feed me every week.

“It’s not enjoyable. It is a task really. It was enjoyable for the first week but now it’s a pain and I hate it.

Julie paid for the £10,000 operation herself when her weight peaked at 20st 7lbs after years grazing on food behind bar of her pub, the Butterbowl Hotel in Leeds.

She underwent the underwent the operation – a bilo-pancreatic diversion with a duodenal switch – in December 2010 at the Spire Hospital in Leeds.

Julie’s weight dropped so quickly that her sister Karen, 50, who weighed 21st 7lbs, was inspired to have the same procedure in a bid to slim down.

Julie before her weight loss operation

But as Karen’s weight began to level off at 10st, Julie’s continued to plummet until she reached a skeletal six stone and could no longer keep any food down.

Julie said: “At the beginning I was really happy because I was dropping lots of weight and but then you are supposed to stop and level off. But I didn’t and it just kept dropping off until it got too much.

“To me, looking at pictures of myself is like looking at a picture of a African child that is starving. I’m just bones.

Julie ended up being rushed to hospital and was kept alive on a nutrient drip while doctors diagnosed her condition.

She had to undergo two operations in June and September 2012 to try and release more of her stomach to allow her to take in more food and nutrients.

Julie’s digestive system had become so small she was unable absorb any of the trace elements – such as Vitamin B12, Zinc, Copper or Magnesium – needed to survive.

She was so malnourished she developed Wernicke Encephalopathy, a serious neurological disorder caused by low or inadequate supply of Thiamine – or Vitamin B12 – which is used to break down carbohydrates.

The condition is normally seen in alcoholics, people with HIV or people who have been starved and can also cause memory loss and balance problems.

Julie, who is unmarrried and childless, explained: “To combat the illness I need to absorb as much as I can from food, I’m trying to get the calories and all the nourishment.

Julie’s condition has no cure and she will have to keep up her mammoth calorie intake for life.

She said: “It has completely changed me as a person, I went into hospital to lose weight and I came out as a different person.

“I have to eat tons more than I did when I was overweight. I have much worse eating habits but I have never looked as good in my life.

“It’s a full time job.”

* A typical day’s intake for Julie would be:

Three cups of coffee with semi-skimmed milk

Chicken liver parfait with two rounds of toast

Two yoghurts

For the evening meal – large Thai curry with rice, a roast, shepherd’s pie

Several bags of sweets, especially jelly beans and fruit pastels

A packet of chocolate biscuits

Cheese and savoury biscuits

Water, milk and half a bottle of Lucozade

A mum-of-four has made a “miracle recovery” after she was speared in the FACE by a dual-carriageway barrier which smashed through her windscreen in a horror crash.

Katrina Taylor, 34, came within inches of having her head severed by a sharp piece of metal cable which crashed through her sports car after she ploughed into the central reservation.

The nursery manager had been driving at 50mph when she hit a patch of standing water and aquaplaned on the A14 in Northamptonshire on April 29 last year.

Mother of four Katrina Taylor

Katrina recieving hospital treatment after the crash

The chunk of metal shattered Katrina’s face – knocking out several teeth and breaking her palate into two pieces.

Another cable broke her nose in several places, broke both cheekbones and damaged her left eye socket – causing her to lose sight in that eye.

Firefighters took two hours to cut the semi-conscious mum out of her convertible Porsche Boxster before she was rushed to Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry, West Mids.

She was put in an induced coma for three days before surgeons fitted titanium plates into her jaw and skull to repair some of the damage.

Doctors warned Katrina’s mum and sister there was a good chance she would be brain-damaged for life when they took her out of the coma.

But incredibly, the brave mum discharged herself from hospital after just ten days, and a year on from the crash she has made a remarkable recovery.

Divorced Katrina, who lives with her four young sons in Desborough, Northants., spoke of the moment she “waited to die.”

The Porsche Boxster in the central reservation after the crash

She said: “The only bits I don’t remember are the actual impact.

“I remember the car spinning out and I just let go of the wheel and said goodbye to the children in my head.

“There was no point in fighting it, I thought ‘see you later, I’m a goner’. I was waiting to die.

“The next thing I remember is the paramedic cutting my clothes off and someone holding my head.

“I was put in the ambulance but then they knocked me out because I was choking on my teeth.

“The firefighters said by rights I should have lost my head and one of the officers at the scene said he thought I was going to die. I’ve had a miracle escape.

“But I had to discharge myself from hospital after 10 days.

“I have four sons, Alfie, nine, Arthur, six, Arnold, three, and Albert, two, and even though I was still recovering I had to look after them.

Katrina meets some of the emergency services who helped her after the crash

“The doctors had told my mum and my sister to expect that I would be brain-damaged because of the impact.

“I had quite a large wound on my head and because there was front and back impact, they believed I would have brain damage.

“I have done my best to stay in touch with everyone who helped me, all of them have been truly brilliant.”

Facial surgeon Peter Stockton said the seriousness of Katrina’s injuries were at the ‘upper end’ of the spectrum he had seen.

Since then she has gone through three operations to slowly rebuild her face, including a procedure to remove all of her teeth and replace them with a full set of dentures.

She will require more surgery as the head trauma she sustained has also affected her hearing.

A woman who had £4,000 breast implants because she was fed-up of looking like a boy yesterday warned women to be wary after a bizarre side effect left her with one boob – for SEVEN MONTHS.

Flat-chested Lauren Yardley, 25, had the  implants fitted to take her from a size A cup to a DD.

But just two months of her new life with bigger boobs Lauren not only noticed her right breast was bigger than her left but it felt hard and uncomfortable.

Lauren Yardley before the boob job

Lauren now with bigger breasts

But just two months later Lauren was stunned when the replacement implant fell completely out of her chest – when she was on her way top her aunt’s house.

This time experts at the Tonic Cosmetic Surgery clinic, in Nottingham, said they were unable to reinsert the implant because her body needed time to heal.

It meant embarrassed Lauren was forced to live with a wonky chest for a staggering seven months.

During that time the nursery nurse used chicken fillets – silicon bra-inserts – to boost the flat side of her chest.

But there was no hiding during a holiday to Tenerife with pals where she had no option but to wear her bikini with just one boob.

Lauren has now had the implant put back in her chest and her body has accepted the surgery.

Collect picture of Lauren with a leaking scar after the operation

But the nursery worker yesterday warned other women to be wary of the traumatic side-effects breast implants can have.

She said: “I couldn’t believe it when the implant started coming out of my breast.

“At first it was like a blister, but then over the next week it started to come out more and more.

“I did not feel too much pain, just discomfort. I could not really see if because of where it was, but when I showed my friends they said I had to get it checked out straight away.

“The doctors at the hospital said they had never seen anything like it – they couldn’t believe I was not in septic shock.

“I feel very lucky – it could have been a lot worse.

“The most horrific thing was having only one breast for seven months. It was horrible.

“I was booked to go on holiday for two weeks so I had to pad out my bra with chicken fillets so people would not notice. Luckily I think I pulled it off and you can’t tell in pictures.

“I felt really confident after having my implants, but I lost it all again when I was left with and uneven chest.”

Lauren added: “I was always flat chested – I looked like a boy. I wanted to look more like a girl.

“I couldn’t wear certain dresses or tops as they just didn’t look right. I never wanted to be as big as someone like Jordan – I just wanted a more curvy figure.

“When I booked the operation they told me it was common for the body to reject implants – but I had no idea this could happen.

“My sister had hers done on the same day at the same clinic and had no problems at all, so I suppose I was just unlucky.

“But it’s definitely worth remembering if you’re considering having implants.”

Lauren saved up to pay #3,750 for her breast implants in September 2009 then paid #850 for the correction operation.

Surgeons cleaned out Lauren’s breast and replaced the implant before sending her home with anti-inflammatory tablets.

She was told the problem would settle down but she was rushed to A&E at Coventry University Hospital when the implant fell out of her chest.

Fortunately, Lauren did not develop septic shock and she was transferred back to the Tonic Cosmetic Surgery where surgeons safely removed the troublesome implant.

She spent seven months with just one breast before surgeons eventually replaced Lauren’s missing implant at an additional cost of #1,000.

The operation was a success and relieved Lauren, who lives with her mechanic boyfriend George Harwood, 26, in Coventry, West Mids, yesterday (Mon) said she still had no regrets over her implants.

She said: “Fingers crossed my body won’t reject the implants again.

“People always ask me if I would have implant again after all I have been through but I always say yes. I don’t regret it at all.”

She added: “It has cost me a fortune to have all the follow up operations.

“Capsular contracture can happened and it is not the doctor’s fault, but I do feel that they should have noticed it was popping out sooner.”

Capsular contracture, an unavoidable complication of breast implant surgery, affects most patients to some degree and it is likely further surgery will be needed.

The body creates a capsule of fibrous scar issue about the breast implant as part of the healing process.

This is a natural reaction that occurs when any foreign object is surgically implanted into the body.

The scar tissue over time will begin to shrink at a rate and extent which varies from person to person.

In some cases, like for Lauren, the capsule can tighten and squeeze the implant, making the breast feel hard or even eject itself from the body.

A spokeswoman for Tonic Cosmetic Surgery said: “Most women who have breast implants will experience some level of capsular contracture.

“Lauren’s is probably one of the worst cases we have seen. For a young girl it is very stressful.

“It is the body doing what it is supposed to in rejecting the implant as it is foreign. Lauren’s immune is particularly high.

“Rejection has always been a problem with breast implants. But there is no way of testing whether someone will get capsular contracture or not – we wish there was.

“We hope Lauren is now doing well.”

Katie Milner, 22, shows off her sexy figure after losing five stone

A super slimming primary school teacher shed a whopping five stone – after being tormented about looking like MISS PIGGY.

Katie Milner, 22, tipped the scales at 15 stone 3lbs after years of gorging on takeaway food, chocolate and up to five bags of crisps a day at university.

She was so chubby it took her 10 minutes to put her own shoes on and caused her to suffer from ankle and chest pains as well as developing asthma.

But 5ft 3ins tall Katie decided to lose the weight after being called fat by cruel bullies who also branded her “Miss Piggy”.

Over the last three years, Katie has managed to shed five stone to weight a svelte 10 stone 3lbs.

She has also gone from a lardy size 20 to a trim size 10.

Yesterday Katie, from Meriden, West Mids., said: “I couldn’t believe what I looked like. I was huge and decided enough was enough.

“I would be called a ‘fat pig’ by some people and Miss Piggy which was hard to take.

“When I saw a photograph of myself looking really big I knew I had to do something.

“I’m grinning in all of the photos of me when I was fat, but it was all a front. I wasn’t happy. I had no self confidence and I hated the way I looked.”

Katie, who started as a primary school teacher last September, used to hoard chocolate and crisps in her bedroom as a child.

She said: “My weight was always an issue from a young age and it had a big impact on my self-esteem.

Katie before she lost the weight

Miss Piggy the TV character

Katie joined a Rosemary Conley Fitness Club in Sutton Coldfield, West Mids., and after a few months was running up to 10 miles a day.

She said: “I’m so much fitter and healthier and no longer asthmatic.

“I can do 10-mile runs, my ankles are back to a normal size and I no longer suffer stomach or chest pains.

“I have also noticed a real difference in my love life.

“I never really had many boyfriends because I had no self confidence but I am getting a lot more attention from men now which is great.

“I was engaged a few months ago but we split up and now I’m a single girl and loving life.”

To contact Rosemary Conley visit www.rosemaryconley.com

Super slimmer Lisa Rennison has kept the weight off for 12 years by carrying her personal ‘thinspiration’ – a photo of when she looked like Mr Blobby.

Lisa, 40, lost nearly half her weight after trying to squeeze into a pair of trousers in a Marks and Spencer changing room and breaking down in tears.

A lifetime of unhealthy eating sent her ballooning to 12 stone which made her dangerously big for her petite 5ft 2in frame.

Lisa Rennison with her son Ben when she weighed 12 stone

Lisa with her slim figure

Lisa lost the weight through simple exercise and a strict diet – but feared she would start slipping back into her bad old ways.

So she took a photo of herself at her biggest and has carried it with her ever since, putting it on her desk at work to stop her munching on cakes in the office.

Lisa, a customer service manager from Peterborough, Cambs., says her ‘thinspiration’ has worked so well she is now training to become a fitness instructor.

She yesterday (Mon) said: “I remember I was in Marks and Spencer’s trying on a pair of trousers and I just looked in the mirror and broke down.

“I was trying on a size 18 pair on in the store and I was just horrified by my size.

“I remember crying in the mirror, I had never felt so low or insecure about the way I looked. I was at my lowest.

“A couple of days later I took a photograph of my self and this is the picture I carry around with me.

“It was such a horrible and difficult time and whenever I look at the photograph it makes me put down the treats and sweets and reminds me of just how terrible I felt.

“I turned 40 this year and people often say I look younger now than I did in my twenties – I feel much younger.”

The mum-of-one added: “I didn’t use slimming world, or weight watchers or muscle in on any fad diets. I literally stopped eating the rubbish.

“I stopped eating the chocolate and the cakes. I looked at my portion sizes and got rid of the take-away meals.

“Ultimately I ate like a pig and I’m only a small frame so for as long as I could remember I had always been a curvy and big.

“My diet wasn’t anything special it was just a common sense diet.

“I lost a stone in six weeks through healthy eating and this set the ball rolling and in six months I was down to a size 12.”

Lisa was a chubby child who was called “fat arse” by bullies at school but her weight spiralled out of control after the birth of her son Ben, now 15.

She dieted by cutting out bread and chocolate and lost a stone in a month and followed it by stopping greasy takeaways and fast food.

After losing the pounds she joined a gym in 2010 where five-times-a-week sessions transformed her into a toned size six.

She added: “Looking back at the photograph reminds me of all the bad feelings I had and it’s a real what I like to call thinspiration.

“When I celebrated my 30th birthday I was a healthy size eight and that was a big moment for me.

“Around eight years ago I started cycling, I joined the gym and fitness was key to getting rid of the rest of the weight to get me down to how I am now.

“I never want to go back to looking like I did before this is why I remind myself daily – I remind myself how much I’ve achieved and how much happier I am within myself.”

Lesley Ballantyne, 21, lost ten stone and is now a cooking teacher

A student who was so fat she couldn’t climb the stairs to her lectures is top of the class after shedding 10 stone — to become a COOKERY teacher.

Lesley Ballantyne, 21, learned about nutrition by day but went home to gorge on kebabs, chips, pizza, fizzy drinks and chocolate cake.

She ballooned to 23 stone and was nearly thrown out for being repeatedly late because she struggled to get upstairs for classes.

But now – after slimming down to 13 stone and dropping from a size 26 to a 14 – she’s in a class of her own as a trainee home economics teacher.

Lesley said yesterday (Tues): “I didn’t even know what a vegetable was – and thinking back, it was disgusting.

“I was about to be thrown out of university because I couldn’t get to my classes. The walking was just too much – I couldn’t cope with climbing the stairs.

“I would gorge fatty foods on a daily basis without care. I knew I was putting on weight, but I didn’t want to think about it.”

Lesley’s weight shot up while she was studying home economics at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.

She became “addicted” to fatty cheese and gorged on junk food and family size chocolate bars.

As she piled on the weight, she became depressed, sleeping up to 15 hours a day and nodding off during lectures.

She had to wear flat shoes on nights out and was tormented by cruel comments from bullies.

Lesley realised she had to slim down when she was forced to ask for a seatbelt extension on a flight when going on holiday.

She visited her GP in January 2011 after feeling ill and was told by doctors the fat around her organs was endangering her health.

Lesley when she was so overweight she couldn’t climb the stairs to her lectures

The pounds started dropping off when she swapped her high calorie snacks for healthy meals like porridge and stir fries.

Lesley, originally from Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, added: “The shock jolted me into finally doing something.

“I started gradually, by going on a diet – and eventually began going to the gym, which helped a lot.

“For breakfast I have porridge with semi-skimmed milk and raisins, for lunch it’s couscous with mushrooms followed by fruit, and for dinner I’ll have a stir-fry – without the noodles.

“I no longer eat cheese and only have bread once a week.

“In a normal exercising session, I use the crosstrainer for half-an-hour then hit the exercise bike for 10 minutes before finishing off with rowing and running.

“It’s amazing – I couldn’t even picture myself walking on a treadmill before.”

Lesley told how her life has been turned around after shedding her surplus weight.

Lesley learned about cooking healthy food after previously gorging on junk

She has undergone her first successful spell as a cookery teacher in a 10-week placement at Baldragon Academy in Dundee.

Lesley is now in the final year of her degree in food and consumer science at the University of Abertay in Dundee and will then go on to teacher training.

She said: “I’m happier, healthier and more confident. All my problems were a direct consequence of my weight.

“I’m training to be a home economics teacher. I’ve got so much more confidence and enthusiasm about life now.

“I used to fall asleep during my lectures because I was so unhealthy but I’m able to concentrate on my grades now.

“I still have takeaways and chocolate, but just not as much. Everything in moderation.

“My diet isn’t as intense as it was before, there’s no need for it to be – I’m definitely continuing it, though.

“I can wear any dress or outfit I want now. It’s amazing.”

Cleared death row inmate Nick Yarris, 51, and his new love Jess Stubley, 23

A barmaid planning to marry a former prisoner who spent 23 years on Death Row has told how she won his heart – by agreeing to spend hours “locked up” with him.

Jessica Stubley, 23, said she understood how institutionalised her lover Nick Yarris, 51 had become and wanted to support him after they fell in love on Facebook.

Innocent Nick had faced the electric chair after being framed in 1982 for the rape and murder of a woman in his native Pennsylvania.

He spent 8,057 days behind bars – much of it in solitary confinement – before DNA evidence finally cleared him and he was released in 2004.

Nick then wrote a book about his life on Death Row called Seven Days To Live which barmaid Jessica was given to read one day by her boss.

Pretty Jessica, from Moulton, Lincs, was captivated by his harrowing story and sent him a message of support via Facebook.

She was astonished when Nick replied personally and told her he had moved to Britain where he was now divorced and living alone with his dogs.

The pair struck up an unlikely love – even though he had been on Death Row for EIGHT YEARS before she was even born.

They moved in together just two months after their first meeting and three years on are now planning to marry.

The couple say they now love to lock themselves in a small room where wrongfully-convicted Nick feels safe – and they play online scrabble.

And despite being forced out of her job as a barmaid at the Swan, in Moulton, Lincs., because of a disapproving boss, she still plans to marry Nick.

Nick and Jess at home in Spalding in Lincolnshire. They plan to marry in Hawaii

The 51-year-old proposed to Jessica in July 2010 and the couple are still saving up for their big day – which they plan to have in Hawaii.

Jessica says she has no doubt Nick is the love of her life because – despite his harrowing past – he is such a “fun guy” to be around.

She said: “When I first got together with him most people thought I was crazy.

“He is twice my age and has got more baggage than an airport but he makes me happy.

“There has been a lot to contend with – his past, and the age gap.

“Everybody has wanted to like him but there have been a lot of concerns.

“Nick doesn’t act his age. He acts a lot like somebody my age. We will go out together and he is up for a laugh.”

Nick and Jess on holiday in Paris

In 1981 Nick, then a 19 year-old drug addict and alcoholic, was arrested in a stolen car when he jumped a red light.

In the scuffle with police the officer’s gun went off and he was charged with attempted murder.

While in custody he read a newspaper report about the rape and murder of a young mum and decided to make up information about it in a bid to bargain his way out of jail.

He accused a man he thought was dead of beating, stabbing and raping 32-year-old Linda Craig in a churchyard on the borders of Pennsylvania.

But his plan backfired when he found himself accused of the crime and then tried and convicted on flimsy evidence and sentenced to death in 1982.

Nick spent the next 23 years fighting his conviction and was only freed when he became ill with hepatitis C and tests provided DNA evidence which cleared him.

He now works as a delivery driver for B&Q and says Jessica’s Lincolnshire house is now his home.

Philadelphia-born Nick said: “I couldn’t believe someone so lovely could risk having her own life blown apart to be in love with me.

“Her parents were worried and we had to go through a lot to be accepted but the support from her family since has been overwhelming.”

A teenager who suffers from constantly changing allergies told yesterday how she dices with death every day — as any meal could kill her.

Nicole Gray, 19, has been rushed to hospital over 100 times in the past three years after suffering life-threatening anaphylactic reactions to common foods and products.

And because her allergies subside and new ones develop she never knows what is safe for her to eat or handle.

Nicole Gray, 19, has been rushed to hospital more than 100 times in the past three years after suffering life-threatening reactions to common foods and products

For months she was told to avoid all nuts after a severe reaction to hazelnuts – but then  accidentally ate a meal containing peanuts and was completely unharmed.

She experienced similar reactions to shellfish and chocolate – a swelling of the throat and a severe rash – but can now eat both safely.

The list of foods and household items she is currently allergic to includes cheese, maple syrup, pears, ibuprofen, aspirin, face wipes and some soaps.

Nights out are also dangerous for Nicole because people often assume she is drunk if she collapses with an anaphylactic reaction.

She said: “If I don’t receive the correct treatment then it can kill within five minutes.

“It is not a game. It’s life or death, and it is really difficult to deal with.”

Nicole when she was in hospital after a particularly bad allergic reaction

Experts at the Anaphylaxis Campaign, a charity which supports sufferers, said her unusual reactions may be caused by her having a variable allergy threshold.

Nicole, who lives with her mum Grace, 49, has no family history of severe allergies and enjoyed a normal childhood.

When she was 15, she was diagnosed with asthma, and at 16 had her first anaphylactic reaction after eating ice cream topped with hazelnuts.

Doctors diagnosed her with severe allergies – or anaphylaxis – and she has since had reactions to shellfish, chocolate, cheese, and various medications and cleansers.

She develops an itchy rash, swollen throat and breathing difficulties when she has a reaction and carries an ‘EpiPen’ which delivers a shot of adrenaline.

Nicole also has to ring 999 so doctors can administer adrenaline, anti-histamines and steroids and she is usually kept in hospital for between four hours and three days

She also needs to be monitored in case she suffers a biphasic reaction, where the allergy flares up again once the treatment has worn off.

But her condition is made harder to manage because her allergies vary and can “wear off” and be replaced by new ones.

She said: “When I had my first anaphylactic reaction I was told to avoid every nut.

“It was really, really hard, and food shopping would take an age. Even things like pure fruit juice could be off limits because it might have been packaged in a factory with nuts.

“My allergy was so severe that I could not risk anything at all.”

“My nut allergy has since gone away and I’ve gone through phases of being allergic to other things like shellfish and cocoa.

“Normally it starts with a really itchy, red, blotchy rash. I can get throat swelling, tongue swelling and my eyes can swell up. I have breathing difficulties a lot of the time and I often feel really dizzy.

“Depending on what it’s a reaction to, it varies how long it takes to come on. Food is really, really quick, but medication can take hours.

“I had a really bad reaction to Stilton, so they have said that at the moment I have to avoid all cheese. It sucks that I’ve got to avoid pizza.

“Face wipes also have something in them that I can’t use. When I’m out I carry hand gel, as I have had reactions to soap in the past.”

Over one 14-week period, Nicole was rushed to hospital at least once a week and missed so much school she had to stay on to take her final exams.

Nicole, of Musselburgh, East Lothian, added: “I have to make sure when I go to a bar or club I have to make sure that they know I suffer from allergies and asthma.

“The automatic assumption if they see a teenager ill or collapsed is that it’s drink related.
I always say to my friends to assume it’s the allergies and phone me an ambulance.”

Moira Austin of the Anaphylaxis Campaign, said: “Allergies to foods such as nuts, peanuts, fish and shellfish, are less likely to be outgrown and are likely to be lifelong.

“Allergic individuals have a ‘threshold level’, the lowest amount of the food they’re allergic to that can trigger a reaction and below which the individual would not be expected to react.

“Threshold levels can differ between allergic individuals and in one individual from one day to the next depending on a number of factors that may include the person’s state of health, whether they have asthma and whether the asthma is well controlled.

“Factors such as exercise and stress may also alter an individual’s threshold level.”