Weight abuse victim: “Bullies paid for my new body”
Tori Swan was subjected to a barrage of abuse about her size – then the bullies helped her get the body she’d always dreamed of
After years of A suffering fatshaming, Tori Swan lost an incredible 10st and thought she’d finally have a body to be proud of. But the 20year-old from Northumberland was left with so much excess skin, she still had to wear size 24 T-shirts and wouldn’t get naked in front of her boyfriend, Dan.
Tori says: “I felt so ugly and at times wished I’d never lost the weight. I hated how I looked, and my confidence was even lower than when I was 23st. I’d worked so hard to lose weight, yet I still wasn’t happy.”
Unable to have the operation to remove loose skin on the NHS, Tori decided to use a crowdfunding page to raise the money and was stunned at the response – including, incredibly, from her former bullies.
NO CONFIDENCE
Tori says: “The money started pouring in, and I was shocked to see some names I recognised – people who’d bullied me at school. They donated over £1,500 and left comments congratulating me on how well I’d done. I was stunned. They obviously felt bad for how they treated me, and I was grateful for every bit of help I received.”
Waitress Tori had always struggled with her size. At just 12 years old, she weighed 12st and gained pounds at a rapid rate every year.
She says: “I was always having abuse hurled at me. I could barely get through a school day without someone chanting: ‘Who ate all the pies?’ or ‘fat cow.’ I had one friend who was a big girl, too, and that was it. I had no confidence and was utterly miserable. I was only ever happy when I was eating as it made me forget about the bullying.”
Tori would eat two chocolate bars on the way to school, a bacon sandwich at morning break and a big bowl of creamy pasta for lunch. After school, she would grab a fizzy drink and two packets of crisps before popping in to her Grandma’s and making herself a sandwich before eating a dinner of chicken and chips. She’d then walk home, telling her mum she hadn’t eaten, and sit down for a second dinner of spaghetti Bolognese.
The weight piled on, and by the time Tori was 17, she weighed 23st – huge for her 5ft 6 frame. She ignored pleas from her mum, Donna, to slim down.
She says: “Mum was scared for me. She could see my eating was out of control and would say: ‘It’s not normal for you to be this big.’ I just ignored her and would eat in secret, hiding wrappers down the side of my bed. I was depressed but didn’t realise it.”
It was the prospect of dating that finally spurred her into action. In 2015, having signed
❛IT WAS LOVELY TO HEAR THEM SAY HOW GOOD I LOOKED WHEN THEY’D ONLY EVER CALLED ME A FAT COW❜
up to an online dating site, Tori used a close-up of her face that didn’t reveal her size and sparked the interest of trainee engineer Dan Turner, 24.
The pair spent weeks chatting, but when Dan, who lived just five miles away from her home in Cramlington, Northumberland, suggested they meet up, Tori admits she panicked and cut all contact for a week.
FACING THE FEAR
Tori says: “I was ashamed that I hadn’t been upfront about my size. I’d told him I was a big girl, but nothing that would make him suspect I was actually huge.
“But then I realised I had nothing to lose. I called him and explained how big I really was but that I was determined to shape up. We agreed to meet, and from the off Dan was amazing. He said he was happy with me as I was, but if I thought I could be happier, he’d help.”
Tori followed the 5:2 diet, consuming just 500 calories twice a week and eating normally for the other five days. She and Dan walked everywhere and she spent three nights a week in the gym. In just a month she’d lost 2st; and within a year, she’d lost 10st – taking her to 13st 4lbs and a size 12.
But instead of loving her new body, she hated the sight of herself in the mirror as the dramatic weight loss had left her with rolls of excess skin.
She says: “When I moved, there was a huge flap of skin on my stomach that flopped from side to side. I had fleshy batwings on my arms and the tops of my thighs were covered in an extra layer of skin that swayed as I walked. Despite it being unsightly and uncomfortable, the NHS turned me down for skin-removal surgery as it was seen as a cosmetic procedure.”
Desperate for the £8,000 surgery, but knowing it would take years to save up enough from her wages as a waitress, Dan suggested setting up a crowdfunding page, where strangers donate money.
Tori says: “Although it felt cheeky asking strangers for money, I was so desperate I had to do it. I put the link on my Facebook page and as the donations crept up, my selfesteem grew alongside it.
FINALLY HAPPY
“Word spread and some familiar names started cropping up on the donations, too. They were people who had bullied me at school. It was so lovely to receive messages from them saying how good I looked when the only things I’d ever heard them say before was ‘fat cow.’ No one apologised for what they’d done, but I took the gesture to mean they were sorry.”
In just a few months, Tori’s bullies had donated more than £1,500 towards her surgery. She then took out a £5,400 bank loan and friends and family donated the remaining £1,100. Tori was finally able to go under the knife in December 2016. She had 7lbs of flesh removed from her stomach, 4lbs from each arm and 5lbs from each leg. It took her six weeks to recover.
She says: “When I woke up I was in agony, but I was also so happy. I knew that I was going to finally be happy with my body and I couldn’t wait to go out and buy more fitted clothes.”
Tori is grateful to her former bullies who made it happen. She says: “I don’t hold a grudge towards the people who bullied me. They’ve made up for it by helping me get my dream body. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”