A mum-of-two who started binge eating while mourning the loss of three family members has lost an incredible eight stone after ditching her unhealthy lifestyle.
Sara Hennigan was left heartbroken when she lost both her parents and brother to illness in the space of just a few years. Struggling to cope with the grief, the 43-year-old turned to food for comfort, and would take a huge bottle of fizzy juice to bed, along with a share bag crisps and a big bar of chocolate.
At her worst she was classed as morbidly obese, tipping the scales at 18 stone when she was just 5ft 3in tall, Manchester Evening news reports. It took her weeks to build up the courage to join a Slimming World group, but Sara soon found strength in her loved ones to start her incredible weight transformation journey.
Sara lost her mum Jackie, 74, to lung cancer in 2017. Just two years later, her brother John Wynne, passed away from the same disease 2019. Her dad, Joe, sadly died from sepsis last year.
"Each night I took a big bottle of Fanta, a family bag of crisps and a family size chocolate bar to bed with me - I was eating for comfort," Sara said.
"But then I realised how hard a battle my mother and brother and father had fought. They had done everything to hold on to their lives, yet I was just throwing mine away. I realised I had to change."
In her younger years, Sara was able to maintain a health weight, even after giving birth to her two sons, Keiran, 24, and Kallum, 20. But in the years following, her hectic lifestyle caused her to pile on the pounds.
"I was always really busy, doing stuff for my family and the community," she said. I didn't leave any time for myself, I didn't look after myself, and I slowly started gaining weight.
"I was really close to my mum. In her final days, she came to live with me, and I cared for her. It broke my heart when she died. It was the worst pain I have ever felt and I ate to make myself feel better.
"We were still grieving for mum when my brother, John, was diagnosed with exactly the same cancer. He had a tumour in the middle of his lungs, just as she did. It felt so cruel, for our family to be struck twice.
"I began raising money for immunotherapy treatment and John completely changed his diet and lifestyle; he started eating fish and white meat and cut out all processed foods. He did lots of research and he became very scientific about his entire approach.
"He went to therapists to get the toxins out of his body. He tried cannabis oil. He did everything he could, and I was convinced he was going to make it. He was such a strong character."
John tragically died aged 54 in June 2019, leaving Sara heartbroken and again turning to food for comfort. But as the weeks passed, her brother's battle with the illness became a source of inspiration.
"I realised that I had a life, and that I had the opportunity to do something," she said. "John was my inspiration. He knew he was dying, but he still gave it his best shot."
Sara took the leap and signed up to Slimming World in Abergele, North Wales. At her heaviest, she weighed 18 stone.
"My mobility was shocking," she said. "I had pains in my hips and my back. I was really depressed and downhearted. I got to the doors of Slimming World, and I couldn't even walk through them.
"I felt so ashamed. I just went home. It took me weeks to build up the courage to go back and join the group. And from then, I didn't look back and I began losing weight."
Sara has also faced her own cancer battle after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in July 2021. She underwent surgery and thankfully got the all-clear soon after. Her father and brother died later that year.
Instead of falling back on unhealthy habits, she used each tragedy as inspiration for her weight loss. "I swapped takeaways for fakeaways and I didn't touch sweets or cakes," she said.
"I certainly didn't have the two litre bottles of fizzy drinks. I started cooking healthy recipes. I completely changed my diet. The weight dropped off but for me, the real benefit was to my mental health.
"Of course, I had setbacks, I put on some weight after dad died, but I relied on my mum and my brother in heaven, to get me through it. I took my strength from them.
"At the start of the year, I joined a gym, which was a real game changer, and I started my own walking group in the community, which was really popular. I started off walking short distances and increased it up to several miles each day."
Sara is now a size 10, weighs ten stone and has lost over eight stone. She has been crowned 'woman of the year', 'biggest loser' and 'Miss Slinky' at Slimming World, as well as 'member of the month' and 'star of the week' at her gym.
