A slimmer who lost more than half his body weight is fundraising to have three stone of excess skin removed after the NHS refused to operate on him. Ashley Spendiff, 42, weighed 36st at his heaviest after gorging on five takeaways a week and needed two sets of scales to even weigh himself.
The care home manager was so big he could only fit into XXXXXXXL t-shirts and wore whopping 58ins wide trousers. Ashley turned to comfort eating following the death of a friend and ballooned in size.
He decided to change his life when he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in November 2021. Ashley began walking but found it hard due to his size and would constantly be out of breath so took up wild swimming.
He would swim up to two hours most days and in just 16 months Ashley lost a staggering 20 stone. His amazing weight loss has left him with between two and three stone in excess skin which Ashley can’t tone up through exercise.
Ashley was gutted when his GP told him the NHS would not fund the operation to remove the skin because it is a cosmetic procedure. He has now launched a crowdfunding appeal to raise £35,000 to have the surgery done privately.
Ashley said: “I decided I needed to change my life. "Two sets of scales were needed to measure the weight. Diabetes was the kick I needed and was probably a blessing in disguise.
"All my life, my weight has fluctuated and in more recent years it has got completely out of control. As you put more weight on, you get more depressed. I would turn to food and then I would feel guilty for eating that food and then eat more food.
"I couldn't even look at myself in the mirror. Throughout this weight loss journey, I always knew that my skin would be an issue in the end.
"However, I was not prepared for the information my GP would give me. My GP informed me that because skin removal surgery was classed as a cosmetic procedure, it was not available to me on the NHS. My only option was to go down the private route."
Dr Ian Campbell, an obesity expert, said: "Losing weight is never easy, and when someone needs to lose a lot of weight to restore their health, it requires huge determination and mental strength. Unfortunately significant weight loss can leave unsightly and uncomfortable skin folds in the abdomen, hips, chest, arms and legs.
"The only thing that can be done is surgical correction, to remove the excess skin folds."
Dr Campbell said the NHS regularly refused to carry out the surgery on weight-loss patients. He added: "The result can often be very demoralising for the patient, whose hard work in losing weight seems to go unrecognised.”
An NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire spokesperson said: "Although we sympathise with patients who have excess skin after weight loss, the removal of excess skin following weight loss is not routinely offered by the NHS. Cases may be accepted on the NHS in exceptional circumstances however, such as when excess skin is causing a severe skin condition or even mobility issues.
"Patients are considered on a case by case basis and we advise people concerned about problems with excess skin to talk to their GP who can advise about options available."
Ashley has so far raised £4,431 on his JustGiving page.
