A woman who was left with 15 pounds of sagging skin after shedding 14 stone is now crowdfunding £31,000 to have it removed.
Jess Gould, 29, is asking strangers to donate cash for an operation that she says she needs to finally achieve her dream body.
Jess tipped the scales at 24 stone and one pound when she was at her heaviest.
The support worker was a size 28 and she had spent years gorging on junk food after being trapped in an abusive relationship.
She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia - a long-term condition that causes pain all over the body - and decided to get into shape.
Through a combination of exercise and a low-fat diet, Jess lost an incredible 14 stone and four pounds in just one year.
Jess is now a size 10 and weighs nine stone and nine pounds, and she says she now has about 15 pounds of excess skin, which "swings" whenever she walks.
She is now hoping to fund an operation by setting up a GoFundMe page.
Jess, from Bredon, Worcs., said: "I still see myself as largely overweight due to the skin and it has got me down. I had thought of cutting the skin off myself.
"I've lost all the weight through exercise and diet but I really need help to get the body I really want.
"At one point I was basically bed bound but I still exercised using arm and leg machines.
"It's been really hard work but I'm so proud of what I've achieved."
Jess piled on the pounds after getting hooked on burgers and pizzas washed down with bottles of full-fat coke.
Her health deteriorated so much her doctors told her lungs were being crushed under her own weight.
Jess decided to make a change in January 2019 and swapped fast food in for vegetables, rice and brown toast.
She said: "I was basically eating from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep. I ate everything basically from chocolate to fast food to snacks.
"My illnesses meant I could hardly move, sometimes it was so bad I couldn't even lift my head and my weight made it even worse.
"Even on my good days I couldn't do much - so exercising along with my diet was a hard feat. But I did what I could.
"I bought a foot pedal and I would sit on my sofa and pedal away for as long as I could.
"It would exhaust me and I'd crash out for the afternoon or the next day.
"As the weight started to slowly drop off I felt proud. It was working.
"Soon I had dropped a dress size and I started to feel more confident glancing at myself in the mirror."
Jess, who lives with partner James, 33, now hopes to raise enough money to pay a private clinic to have her saggy skin removed.
She said: "It causes a lot of discomfort. The skin can throw me off balance if it swings as I walk. It's like carrying a heavy duvet around my middle.
"I have to wear waist trainers and shapewear all the time to hold it in place which is often painful and uncomfortable.
"I've lost all the weight on my own and I'm determined to have the operation to remove the skin without being a burden on the NHS.
"The reason I put the weight on was because I was in an abusive relationship. I want to show people in similar situations that it is possible to change your life and lifestyle.
"I just need a bit of help to get me where I want to be."
