AS paramedics wheeled her into an ambulance on an extra wide stretcher, Danni Pryor struggled to comprehend how her life had come to this.
But what followed wasn’t just a fight for her life – it turned her world completely upside down.
Now, aged 37, she is barely recognisable as she wears a size 10-12[/caption]
At her lowest point, Danni was more than 49st, could hardly breathe and barely left her bed.
She had reached a size 42 and was so big her friends asked her if she was “liquidising Mars bars”.
She even ‘outgrew’ her bedroom at her bungalow and was forced to sleep in the living room.
Her clothes were so large, their weight when wet broke THREE washing machines and a shower took two hours, with the help of two carers.
Despite having gastric bypass surgery in her twenties and losing more than 20st, health complications meant she’d put all the weight back on again – and more.
Yet now, aged 37, she is barely recognisable.
Through “sheer hard work” she’s managed to shed an astonishing 38st, dropping from 49st 6lb to 10st 8lb – and there are no weight loss injections in sight.
Danni, who is now a size 10-12, says: “At my heaviest, I pretty much lived in my bed for six years.
“Life was absolutely awful. I was existing instead of living and in constant pain.
“My bed was fitted with hoists which are designed for those with a BMI of 40 or higher.”
Danni, however, had a BMI of 135 – far higher than the healthy range for an adult female at her height of between 18.5 and 24.9.
She says: “The bed was electric, which helped me go from lying down to standing, and I used a wheelchair to get to the bathroom.”
Danni, from Milton Keynes, believes large portions and regular takeaways when growing up were her downfall.
Four cottage pies for £1
Aged five, she weighed 3st and a GP referred her to a dietitian who put her on a strict, portion-controlled diet.
“Mum didn’t think the portions the dietitian recommended were big enough and weekends at my dad’s house involved takeaways and pub visits,” she says.
“We’d have Chinese and go to an Indian buffet on a Sunday. During the week I’d have cottage pies, which cost £1 for four at the time, as well as chicken nuggets and chips.
“We did have home-cooked meals such as chilli and spaghetti bolognese, but the portions were too big.
“I was fed with the best intentions, but my weight crept up.”
It was during secondary school that Danni, who weighed 13st 5lb at 13, began to feel different to her peers.
“Everyone around me was slim and I was getting bullied because of my weight,” she says.
After leaving school, she studied hairdressing before getting a job as a clerk. But after she was made redundant, she says the £45 a week which she received in jobseeker’s allowance wasn’t enough to pay for nutritious food.
Life was absolutely awful. I was existing instead of living and in constant pain
“I’d buy healthy food, but it went off after a couple of days, so I’d eat takeaways and chocolate. Living above a kebab shop didn’t help either.”
Over the next few years, Danni’s emotional eating took its toll and by her late teens she weighed 32st.
At my heaviest, I pretty much lived in my bed for six years, says Danni who is now a size 10-12[/caption]
By her mid-twenties she had to use a wheelchair and couldn’t get to the bathroom without it[/caption]
‘Lonely time‘
“It was a very difficult, lonely time in my life,” she says.
In 2010, aged 22, Danni had a gastric bypass op at Luton Hospital.
To be eligible for the NHS-funded surgery, she had to lose weight beforehand, so she followed a liquid diet of milk, sugar-free jelly and an Oxo cube daily.
On the day of her surgery, she was 8st lighter.
Within months, she had shrunk to a size 16, but then complications set in.
“Everyone told me I looked great, but I felt really unwell,” she recalls. “It transpired that the surgery had played havoc with my hormones and I was dangerously low on iron.
“I also developed reactive hypoglycemia, which meant I released too much insulin – which in turn caused my sugar levels to drop. This explains why I put the weight back on again after surgery.
“There’s a misconception that people become obese because they gorge themselves, but that wasn’t true in my case.
“My hair fell out too and after getting gallstones, my gall bladder was removed. On top of that, I ended up back in hospital for blood transfusions due to the low iron levels. I was in constant pain.”
In October 2024 she discovered nurse and bodybuilder Eddie Abbew’s Facebook page and, inspired by his advice, adopted a so-called ‘lion’s diet’. Pictured at her heaviest with her dog Diablo[/caption]
Danni began eating once a day, and drank bone broth in the morning, and after losing weight is now an advocate for ‘hard work’ over shortcuts[/caption]
Over the next few years, Danni piled all the weight she’d managed to lose back on – plus an extra 17st. By her mid-twenties she had to use a wheelchair and couldn’t get to the bathroom without it.
“I could barely walk a few steps,” she says.
“When I had to go into hospital I was taken in a bariatric ambulance, fitted with hoists and wider stretchers for heavier patients.
“I was in a mess and at one point needed oxygen to breathe. I was diabetic, too. At the hospital nobody really got to the bottom of the underlying cause of what was happening to me and I had no energy to research it.”
Back home, the local council set up a care plan.
Two carers visited twice daily for two hours at a time to help her wash, dress and cook her meals.
The 5 best exercises to lose weight
By Lucy Gornall, personal trainer and health journalist
EXERCISE can be intimidating and hard to devote yourself to. So how do you find the right workout for you?
As a PT and fitness journalist, I’ve tried everything.
I’ve taken part in endless fitness competitions, marathons and I maintain a regime of runs, strength training and Pilates.
Fitness is so entrenched in my life, I stick to it even at Christmas!
The key is finding an activity you love that can become a habit.
My top five forms of exercise, especially if you’re trying to lose weight, are:
- Walking
- Running
- Pilates
- High-intensity interval training (HIIT)
- Strength training
She explains: “I could only tolerate liquids, so I had protein shakes and yoghurts. That’s why I felt so sad when someone asked if I was liquidising Mars Bars.
“The strong [pain] medications made me feel very drowsy and that meant I didn’t get out of bed for days. I also developed sleep apnoea and was put on a machine at night to help me to breathe.
“My clothes were so big that the weight of them when wet broke three washing machines.”
I decided that it was either staying in the wheelchair and being on benefits forever, or just getting on with it
In 2023, Danni, who is 5ft tall and currently unemployed, reached breaking point.
Sick of relying on benefits, she found the willpower to reduce her pain medication and began researching alternative ways to lose weight.
First, she tried a keto diet, losing a few stone.
Then in October 2024 she discovered nurse and bodybuilder Eddie Abbew’s Facebook page and, inspired by his advice, adopted a so-called “lion’s diet”.
Danni believes large portions and regular takeaways when growing up were her downfall[/caption]
Danni’s weight has dropped dramatically since she started a high protein diet[/caption]
‘Hard work‘
This high-protein, low-carb plan meant eating steak cooked in butter, along with lots of eggs and cheese. She occasionally had berries or mango to manage her sugar cravings.
Danni began eating once a day, between 3.30pm and 5pm, and drank bone broth in the morning.
She also began exercising, swimming five times a week with help from her mum.
“I decided that it was either staying in the wheelchair and being on benefits forever, or just getting on with it,” Danni explains.
“It was very tough in the beginning, going into a public pool in my wheelchair while people stared at me. But I was determined to stick at it.”
Now weighing 10 stone 8lb, Danni, who is currently single, is an advocate for “hard work” over shortcuts. And while she acknowledges weight loss jabs have their uses, she believes they aren’t always necessary.
“If you’re active and you don’t have any underlying conditions such as diabetes, I don’t understand why you couldn’t try changing your diet and lifestyle first,” she argues.
“That should be your first port of call.”
I have a lot of excess skin on my thighs, stomach and arms. Every day is a challenge to get dressed and when it gets hot, my legs and arms chafe together
While Danni says she feels so much better than she did before, there’s a downside.
“I have a lot of excess skin on my thighs, stomach and arms,” she says.
“Every day is a challenge to get dressed and when it gets hot, my legs and arms chafe together.
“I have to wear bodycon stuff nearly every day to be comfortable. When I tried some new clothes on recently, all I could see was my loose skin.
“It was horrendous and it’s frustrating when you put in so much hard work, but you’re still not where you want to be.”
Danni is now halfway to raising £15,000 for surgery at a clinic in Turkey to remove the excess skin via her GoFundMe page.
And while the support has been positive overall, she says a couple of comments have been scathing.
“Very few have been unkind, like, ‘Why support someone that got to the size of an elephant?’” she says. “But they’re the minority.
“I have been overwhelmed by the support I’ve received and I’m so grateful. I’m ready for whatever else life throws at me.”
- To donate to Danni’s surgery, visit here
However, the one downside for Danni to losing all this weight is the excess skin on her thighs, stomach and arms[/caption]
She is now halfway to raising £15,000 for surgery at a clinic in Turkey to remove the excess skin[/caption]