I lost half my body weight after I got wedged in a roller coaster

Ordeal changed mum’s life

A 19-STONE mum shed half her weight after getting stuck on a roller coaster.

Laura Cosbie, 35, was “mortified” when three theme park workers had to free her from a tight-fitting harness.

She said: “My husband and I went to Alton Towers and decided to go on the Air ride.

“After a struggle I got the harness to fit but when the ride started I panicked that it wouldn’t hold my weight and cried the whole way round.

“When we came to a stop I desperately tried to unclip my harness but it wouldn’t budge.

“It took three men to get me out and I was so mortified – especially as everyone in the queue was watching – that we went straight home afterwards.”

At her heaviest the mother of two was a size 24 living on a diet of takeaways.

But after hitting rock bottom in 2012 she joined Slimming World and began swapping junk food for home-made meals. She hit her target of 9st 11½lb last year and became a Slimming World consultant.

Now a trim size 10, the former shop worker from Leicester has been named Slimming World’s consultant slimmer of the year.

Laura, mum to Joshua, 12, and Charlotte, nine, struggled with weight since her teens. She said: “With both pregnancies I was disappointed people didn’t congratulate me or ask about the baby. I think that was because my weight meant I didn’t look pregnant.

“I’d also wanted a water birth but the midwife said my weight was so high it would be too risky.

“As the children became more active I realised I could end up missing out because I wasn’t fit enough to keep up with them.”

Now Laura walks her three dogs every day and the whole family has adopted a healthy vegan lifestyle.

She added: “I realised how far I’d come when I went back to Alton Towers and decided to go on the Nemesis ride.

“I was a little bit anxious given my previous experience. So when the harness clicked easily into place I felt as though I’d won the lottery!”