A mum living with a "hidden illness" was told she could be dead in 12 months time if she didn't lose weight.
Fiona Foulder, 39, has lost over four stone after fearing she wouldn't be around to see her kids grow up. The 39-year-old, from Southport, suffers from brittle asthma - a term used to describe a severe form of the lung condition that causes breathing difficulties.
After piling on the pounds during her pregnancy with her second son, Fiona said she ended up in intensive care with her asthma. She spent the following years going in and out of hospital and was hooked up to a life support machine nine times.
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Things came to a head for the mum-of-two when she was told she was too overweight to qualify for a new trial medication, which was her only hope of bringing her asthma under better control.
Fiona told the ECHO: "I got referred to Wythenshawe in Manchester which is a lung specialist unit. It was said to me if I didn't lose weight they didn't think I'd be here in 12 months time.
"It was really traumatic. I think at that point in my life it was a real possibility that I wasn't going to see my kids get to adulthood."
Fiona said her husband Mark, 41, was also struggling with his weight at that time and they feared they wouldn't be around for their sons, who were aged eight and nine at the time.
After trying to lose weight independently didn't work, Fiona decided to join Slimming World. She said: "My mum encouraged me to go to Slimming World. I drove by a few times and didn't go in.
"The time I did go in I was sat in the car and my mum literally had to say 'come on get out of the car.'
"When you get into the room you're still anxious and worried, but everyone is so caring and warm you kind of think 'I can do this' because the support is there.
"I lost eight pound in my first week so from week one I knew it was possible." Since first joining Slimming World in 2007, Fiona has lost over four stone, going from 15st 7lbs to 11st.
She now works as a Slimming World consultant and Team Developer in Southport helping others to achieve their weight loss goals.
Losing weight meant Fiona was now eligible for the trial medication to help her asthma - which she said "has revolutionised my life."
Fiona said living with a "hidden illness" like asthma was difficult as people often didn't believe there was anything wrong with her when she used to have a Blue Badge. She said: "I've gone from not being able to go very far because I physically couldn't walk very far, I'd need someone to push me in a wheelchair, to living a normal life.
"I still go into hospital but I don't do the intensive care visits, and it's a couple of times a year rather than every month.
"At one point I was getting disabled living allowance because I was that poorly whereas now I've got a job that I love and I can do what I want. I live a normal life."
When asked what the secret is to losing weight and keeping it off, Fiona said: "I think it's not giving up at the first hurdle because we all have hurdles, we all have obstacles.
"I think it's that guilt that you feel that sometimes stops you from moving forward. I know it sounds cliché but forgive yourself."
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