ITV/Royal Glamorgan Hospital Facebook A man who had to quit his job because of his weight has lost an impressive 36 stone and undergone a huge transformation.
Stuart Prossner weighed 55 stone at his heaviest, and said it forced him to retire early because the weight made his job as a police sergeant impossible.
Before losing the weight, Stuart was living with depression, and even considered taking his own life.
ITVStuart said he struggled to get out of bed most days, with his weight making life unbearable. Not long after retiring from work, he was admitted to hospital due to open sores on his abdomen.
Unable to support his own body weight, it took 12 staff to get Stuart into an ambulance to take him to hospital. He was later admitted with organ failure.
However, following months of medical care, counselling and rehabilitation, Stuart lost a huge amount of weight and was eventually discharged.
Stuart told ITV News:
I was struggling to get around at the end and started spending longer periods of time sitting at my desk. It soon became apparent I could no longer continue with my job, and so I retired.
I have always struggled with my weight, it’s an ongoing battle, but I never thought I would get to the stage where I was house bound.
ITVOpening up about his poor mental health at the time, Stuart said:
I’d sit in a chair and decided that that was it. And I fed myself hoping that a medical condition would come and kill me.
While at the Royal Glamorgan hospital in Llantrisant, he received counselling from a psychologist, who suggested Stuart had been ‘self-harming’ with food.
Royal Glamorgan Hospital/FacebookStuart said:
This admission was my opportunity to do something about it. I worked with the nursing staff for medical issues, catering staff for meal planning and physiotherapists for suitable and safe exercise. They were all so amazing in getting and encouraging.
I lost 36 and a half stone in just over a year by calorie counting and exercise. I now weigh 17 and half stone, my wife has her husband back and my three children have their dad back.
If you’re experiencing distressing thoughts and feelings, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is there to support you. They’re open from 5pm–midnight, 365 days a year. Their national number is 0800 58 58 58, and they also have a webchat service if you’re not comfortable talking on the phone.
Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.