Siblings shed 16 stone jetting off to Turkey
Two Prestwick siblings have shed 16 stone – after jetting off to Turkey to go under the knife together.
Siobhan and Alexander McDonald had weighed a combined 40 stone – with she a size 22, and him once wearing XXXL clothes.
They turned to food to cope with childhood trauma and began piling on weight while they were still at school.
But Siobhan, 27, and Alexander, 22, shelled out £2,800 each on gastric sleeves – and have dropped from a combined weight of 40 stone to just over 24 stone.
Siobhan, who was 16st 4lbs, is now a size 12, weighing in at 11st 2lbs, while Alexander now has a 32in waist and has gone from 24st to 13st 2lbs.
Siobhan said: “During the first lockdown, Alexander was told he might have to shield because he was at risk if he got COVID-19.
“One of us joked that we’d have to lose weight together. I’d already done a lot of research about surgery, so in May I brought up the idea of us doing it at the same time.”
The pair booked in for surgery at the Ekol Hastanesi hospital in Izmir and flew out for the operation – which saw surgeons removing 80 per cent of their stomachs – six weeks later.
Siobhan said: “We’re coming out of lockdown as new people. I’ve got my confidence back.
“When friends and family see us – especially those who haven’t seen us for months – they can’t believe their eyes. We look like different people.
Alexander, who has never had a girlfriend, has found the courage to join Tinder and added: “I didn’t care much about my appearance but now I enjoy buying clothes and posting pictures on social media.”
Pre-pandemic, Siobhan would comfort eat carb-heavy meals and snacks, along with three cans of cola a day – and just painting her toenails would leave her out of breath.
Alexander would also bingeeat takeaways but feared his “at risk” status would lead to him losing his job as an apprentice joiner.
Siobhan said: “We had a really tough childhood and experienced a lot of trauma. My sister died when I was seven, then our dad died in a motorbike accident when I was 12, which led to us both turning to food.”
The pair were both bullied for their weight at school and while Siobhan was constantly asked if she was pregnant, Alexander adopted the “funny guy attitude” to help him cope with the cruel taunts.
He said: “I found it was
harder for people to slag me off if I was already slagging myself.
“There were a few occasions where I ended up fighting due to defending myself about my weight but, for the most part, I just kept making fun of myself so others couldn’t.
After leaving school, Siobhan met her partner Euan and they welcomed baby Myla in 2013.
But as a busy new mum, she found it even harder to eat healthily.
She explained: “I was
munching on sweets in the car after dropping off my daughter at school then I’d get into work, hungry, and reach for the biscuits and cakes.
“I’d then have a yoghurt, a chocolate bar and a packet of crisps for my afternoon snack and I was drinking two to three cans of cola per day.
“At one point, I was going to counselling for my comfort eating and I was late for one of my appointments because I stopped to get a double
cheeseburger.
“I hated how I looked. “I remember I was on a night out once and a lady came up to me in the toilets and told me I was too fat for my partner and that I needed to lose weight or he was going to leave me.
“I was so embarrassed. Inside, my world came crashing down.”
Since having her op, Siobhan says her life has totally changed and she is now able to keep up with her daughter.