healthmedicinet

• Bethany Walton, now 27, weighed an unhealthy 34st by the time she was 19
• After having a gastric op in 2006, she lost 13st but has regained a third
• Says she was unable to control portion sizes and ‘stretched’ her stomach
• Now 26st, she wants another operation and hopes to be a size 18 one day
• But NHS has refused to fund second op, so anonymous donor has paid
• £11,000 gastric bypass operation will take place within ‘next few months’
  

By
Ruth Styles for MailOnline

Published:
11:29 EST, 26 August 2014

|
Updated:
15:18 EST, 26 August 2014

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At 19, Bethany Walton tipped the scales at an unhealthy 34st but managed to lose 13st following a NHS-funded gastric sleeve operation in 2006.

But after ‘stretching’ her stomach after being unable to regain control of portion sizes, she piled a third of the weight back on and currently weighs 26st.

Now the jobless 27-year-old says she hopes to go under the knife for a second time – and says an anonymous benefactor has stepped forward with the £11,000 cost of a gastric band.

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Second operation: Bethany Walton, 27, is to have a second gastric operation – eight years after her first

Britain’s fattest teen: Bethany won the dubious accolade aged 19 when she tipped the scales at 34st

Speaking to Closer magazine, she told of how even as a child, she loved larger portions and hit 6st by the age of five.

Her taste for sugary carbs such as pasta and cheese sandwiches made her weight problem worse and by the age of 19, her eating had spiralled out of control.

So overweight was Miss Walton, she got breathless while working as a florist and was warned that she might not make it to 30 by doctors.

By April 2006, her weight problems had become so bad that she was forced to undergo a gastric sleeve operation to remove three quarters of her stomach.

Over two years, she shed 13st and dropped to a size 22. But as her appetite began to increase, the weight began to creep back on.

‘Previously a yoghurt or piece of fruit used to fill me up but I started feeling more hungry so ate a little more than normal.

‘I soon began to eat bigger portions and before long, I was able to eat a small meal of pie and mash.’

Her eating escalated, with Miss Walton rapidly adding chocolate and cheese sandwiches to her menu – despite warnings from doctors.

Now, eight years on from her original operation, she says going under the knife for a second time is the only way forward.

‘I hated clothes shopping and felt fat and frumpy,’ she adds.

‘I knew that the only way I could lose weight again was by having surgery because I couldn’t control my portion sizes. Food gave me comfort and I couldn’t say no to it.’

Unhealthy: Bethany, seen here with her mother Julia Barr, weighed 30st by the time she was 13

Weighty problem: Bethany, now 27, was told she wouldn’t see 30 but still finds portion control a challenge

 
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