A mum was told she could be dead within a year due to a "hidden illness" if she didn't lost weight.
Fiona Foulder, 39, from Southport, suffers from brittle asthma - a severe lung condition that results in breathing difficulties. She first ended up in intensive care due to the condition following the pregnancy with her second son where she began rapidly gaining weight.
She was in and out of hospital for years and was hooked up to a life support machine nine times. Eventually, the mum-of-two was told told she was too overweight for her condition and that she qualified for a new trial medication which could help bring her asthma under control.
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Fiona told the Liverpool 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."
She added that her husband Mark, 41, was also struggling with his weight at the time, leading to them both fearing they wouldn't be around to see their kids, who were aged eight and nine at the time, grow up. Fiona initially struggled losing weight on her own which led her to try out Slimming World.
She continued: "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.
Now, she works as a Slimming World consultant and Team Developer in Southport, helping others lose the weight they need to. Furthermore, her weight loss resulted in her becoming eligible for the trial medication 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 added: "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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