A young woman trapped inside her 500lbs body and told she may not make it to her 30th birthday has revealed how she turned her life around.
Rhiannon Chihi has lost a whopping 40% of her bodyweight after paying £2,600 for a procedure that has transformed her wellbeing.
For years, the 21-year-old – who tried weight loss jabs to no avail – felt like she was “watching life from the window”.
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As her weight spiralled out of control – and put her life at risk – Rhiannon knew she had to take drastic action.
“Hearing that possibility [that I might die] at such a young age was terrifying,” Rhiannon, from Essex, told What’s The Jam.
“It felt like someone had put a countdown clock on my life.
“Looking in the mirror became something I avoided completely.
“It felt like I didn’t recognise the person staring back at me anymore.
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“Mentally, it felt like living behind a glass wall – I could see the life I wanted but I felt trapped on the other side of it.”
Rhiannon reached her highest weight of around 500lbs at the age of 19, and she maintained that weight through to age 20 before eventually deciding to pursue surgery.
But she says her emotional eating struggles started in childhood.
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Horrific bullying over her weight left her isolated on the playground, eating alone in the toilets and even her closest pals left her side to avoid being targeted.
She leaned on food for emotional support, a trend that continued into her adult life, and soon started affecting her day-to-day activities.
Rhiannon said: “Everyday situations that most people take for granted started to feel stressful.
“Shopping for clothes was one of the hardest things, most shops simply didn’t carry sizes that fit me.
“I would walk into changing rooms already knowing nothing would fit and leave feeling humiliated.
“I started wearing the ugly, plain, baggy clothes, because hiding my body felt easier than being seen.
“I constantly had to think about whether a chair would hold me, whether I could walk certain distances or whether I would fit comfortably into certain spaces.”
The burden of her weight – both on her physical and mental state –pushed Rhiannon to try and lose weight.
A number of failed attempts, from the latest diet to Mounjaro, left her feeling helpless.
After months of research, she decided to look into bariatric surgery, finding a £2,600 procedure in Turkey through a platform called ‘Booking Surgery’.
She said: “From the very first appointment my mum ever took me to in the UK to ask for help with my weight, I never felt like I was given the support or guidance I truly needed [by the NHS].
“Over the years it felt like I was constantly going round in circles within the healthcare system.
“I knew my health was getting worse and worse but the right help just never seemed to come.
“Eventually, I realised that if I wanted to save my life, I had to take matters into my own hands.”
After jetting off to Turkey, Rhiannon went through a gastric sleeve surgery and hasn’t looked back since.
She praised the doctors for the procedure and the advice and guidance offered to help her on the weight loss journey.
In just seven months, she has dropped 200lbs and is starting to feel like herself again.
She makes a point to emphasise that although surgery was her turning point, her life transformation also required strict ongoing commitment, exercise, lifestyle changes and discipline.
She added: “For so many years I felt like I was trapped inside my own body.
“Now it genuinely feels like I have been given a second chance at life.
“It’s not just about the weight I’ve lost, it’s about the life I took back.
“The girl who once felt like she was drowning in her own life is now slowly learning how to breathe again.
“This journey feels like climbing a mountain that once looked impossible to even approach.
“I’m not at the top yet but for the first time in my life I know I’m finally moving in the right direction and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
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