Mum shed six stone after her weight made her asthma so bad she couldn’t call 999
As Caron Hare’s weight ballooned to 16st 6lb, her chronic asthma saw her taken to hospital THREE times in three months
GASPING for air Caron Hare had so little breath she couldn’t even speak when she made a desperate phone call.
The mum-of-two’s chronic asthma saw her taken to hospital THREE times in three months with life-threatening attacks.
As Caron’s weight ballooned to 16st 6lb medics warned she was risking her health because of her nightly Doritos-and-dip binges.
Caron says: “The third attack was so bad I didn’t even have the breath to tell the emergency phone operator my address.
“I remember lying on the floor and my daughter Jasmine, who was just two years old at the time, looked petrified.
“I’ll never forget that look on her face.
“I vowed, having texted my mum-in-law to get an ambulance to me, that I owed it to my two beautiful daughters to be there for them as they went through all their milestones.”
Caron, 28, decided there and then to get into shape.
She overhauled her stodgy diet and began walking six miles every day.
In a matter of months determined Caron had shed 6st and halved her dress size to a svelte size ten.
These days she doesn’t even need her inhaler any more — and completed a 5km Race for Life.
The inspirational Weight Watchers group leader from Scunthorpe, Lincs, says: “My asthma was out of control.
“Being hospitalised with severe attacks when I have two little girls was terrifying for them — and me.
“Not wanting to see my children look helpless as their mum gasped for breath gave me the impetus to lose weight.
“Now, six stone lighter, I have finally become the mum I always wanted to be.”
I was sobbing, saying how terrified I was
Caron’s battle with the bulge began as a teen.
She says: “I was a graphic design student at Leeds University, skipping breakfast and gorging on junk food to help me handle my virtually daily hangovers.
“I’d have a massive bowl of pasta for tea, at least six pints of cider and blackcurrant, then I’d grab a large doner kebab and fries in the early hours on the way home.
“Averaging four kebabs a week I must have eaten hundreds.”
This pattern continued for three years and she graduated weighing 14st — three stone heavier than when she started. And five years later after marrying warehouse worker Paul, 29, she became pregnant and her weight increased further.
She says: “I saw pregnancy as a green light to eat as if I was expecting triplets, and put on three more stone by the time I gave birth to Jasmine, now four, in May 2012.”
Her previously mild asthma became worse and she would have regular minor attacks.
By the time she had her second child Chloe, now two, she weighed 16st 7lb.
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She says: “I took my girls to the park and saw all the other parents playing with their children on the swings, something I’d never done with Jasmine because I was so unfit.
“I remember looking at the slide, desperately wanting to go down with her like other parents, but I was so scared I’d get stuck.
“So I stood alone, on the edge of the playground, miserable.
“My diet was terrible, Paul was working night shifts leaving me at home with massive bags of Doritos and dips and I’d scoff them all — on top of a diet of ready meals and huge bowls of pasta.”
As Caron’s weight increased, her asthma became a bigger health issue.
She says: “I remember sobbing in our bedroom with Paul, saying how frightened I was.
“I was desperate, and with his mum and sister I started attending Weight Watchers.
“I kept a photo of me looking as fat as Santa on the fridge as a reminder of what I was.
“I couldn’t keep my head in the sand anymore.
“I completely overhauled my diet, ditching the Doritos and making lovely fresh meals from scratch.
“I was still allowed the occasional treat which I tracked, so I never felt deprived.
“I bought a Fitbit and made sure I did at least 10,000 steps a day — more than 40 miles a week — something I still do now.
“I kept walking even while I was waiting for the kettle to boil and took the washing upstairs one piece at a time — and it worked.
“I used to drive the five-minute walk to the corner shop before, but suddenly I was looking at maps for longer routes to the shops and to the nursery.
“I did a 5km Race for Life in 39 minutes, something that was beyond my wildest dreams.”
Just nine months later at her asthma review with her GP, when Caron had lost five stone, she was told she no longer needed an inhaler to control her asthma.
I’ve been there and I am living proof anyone can do this
She says: “The doctor asked what my secret was as it was the most dramatic change he’d ever seen.
“I had my girls with me and I couldn’t have been prouder of myself.
“Two months later I was down to 10st 6lb.
“I’ve halved my dress size and I’m not staring into the grave.
“I go swimming with my kids every week and I’m flying down the waterslides with them.
“I’ve even trained as a Weight Watchers leader to inspire others to turn their lives around.
“I’ve been there and I am living proof anyone can do this.”