Man loses 17st to help save his sister’s life

National World - Viral Videos

A loving brother lost almost 17 stone to be eligible for a donation scheme to help save his sister's life after she was diagnosed with kidney failure.

Transcript

00:00My weight probably peaked at the end of high school and then it skyrocketed in college.

00:05I was only 19 and I weighed 31 stone 3.

00:09My doctor had said to me, look, you're not giving yourself much longer if you keep heading down this road.

00:14So that was a bit of a shocker.

00:16The turning point actually was my dad saying, I'll help you if you help yourself.

00:21Somebody that I bumped into that I hadn't seen in ages said that he was in a slumming world

00:26and I was told it was going to be really supportive

00:29and in the first week I lost like 12 pounds or something.

00:32And I was like, I can do this.

00:34I really enjoyed the camaraderie, it was lovely to have the support

00:38and it was people sort of going, go on, you've got this.

00:42When I started, I would rather not exercise because it sounded like a bad word.

00:48So I started just doing small walks and by the time I walked back, my thighs were bleeding.

00:53I was just too big.

00:55I tried to go upstairs, it took me three goes to get all the way up

00:58and I was sat in a bath, deflated.

01:00And now I absolutely love exercise.

01:03I do about four miles of walking a day at lunchtime.

01:05Running occasionally, cycling, love cycling.

01:08But now I've done Snowdon twice, done Scarfell and just things to push myself

01:13whereas I never would have pushed myself because it would have broke me.

01:16But now I want to break records rather than myself.

01:20I always wanted a Mini Cooper.

01:22I used to talk to my grandma and grandad endlessly, my mum.

01:25I used to watch Italian Job.

01:26It was a goal to have a Mini but obviously you can't be big and have a Mini

01:29because I couldn't fit in it.

01:31So I used to always go to shows with my grandad.

01:33He'd try and sit me in it, didn't work.

01:35Finally sat in one and then we bought one the same weekend

01:38and I could sit in it perfectly.

01:40Another big driver that shifted my weight loss towards Summer World

01:45was that my sister has got a kidney disease and needed a match.

01:50Me and my dad got tested and unfortunately didn't match.

01:53But there was a scheme that's a living donor sharing scheme.

01:58Obviously when I first started I wasn't healthy enough

02:00so they had to turn me away.

02:02So now I've been tested and not long ago I got really good news

02:06that we've actually been accepted for the programme.

02:08So this means that if I match with someone

02:10then my sister has a greater chance of matching with someone else

02:13therefore making her chances of a successful donor higher.

02:17So I've always had a really big appetite

02:20probably due to the fact that I just ate what I wanted

02:23and I just crammed it in.

02:25But over time with the help of Summer World my mentality has changed

02:29and I've drifted towards understanding that what I eat

02:33can be interesting and varied but still be nutritionally beneficial to me.

02:38The future for me holds a lot.

02:41Going on to see how far I can take my story

02:45and hopefully people will listen or inspire them to make a change.

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