Dad’s weight loss challenge to help a cause close to his heart

While selling quarter-pounders from a burger van, Ross Buggins has piled on the pounds, but now he is vowing to shed the weight and raise money for a cause he is closely involved in.

The dad- of- three from Ash ballooned to almost 26 stone after a dozen years in the van and admits he is utterly sick of his size.

He will use his weight loss programme to raise money for the Batten Disease Family Association (BDFA), a condition which afflicts his 11-year-old son Ryan

“I’m fed up being large,” Ross said.

“Raising money for the Batten Disease Family Association has given me a proper reason to lose the weight.”

In 2013, Ryan was diagnosed with juvenile Batten disease, a rare and fatal autosomal recessive neuro-degenerative disorder that begins in childhood. The effects of the disease include loss of vision and epilepsy.

Ross lives with wife Leanne and their other children Rhys, nine, and Rio, six, in James Close.

He said: “Leanne and I will never forget the day Ryan was diagnosed.

“We were called to London and asked to go by ourselves – that is when we knew something was wrong.

“Before this, he had been a perfectly healthy child. There had been no issues or concerns whatsoever. But by the age of seven we started to notice some changes.

“His vision was deteriorating and at an alarming rate.

“The disease is life-limiting. He has a life expectancy of between 15 and 25 years. To be told that your child will die is utterly soul destroying.

“To look at him now, you just couldn’t believe it. But he fights through every day with an unbelievable strength that makes us so proud as parents.”

Ross has been given a free three-month membership to the Park Resorts gym at St Margaret’s Bay Holiday Park, as well as a free personal trainer, Dave Pilcher.

He said: “Dave’s really up for helping me.

“I’ve already met with him and we’re starting off with cardio workouts such as walking on the treadmill, using the cross train- ers and swimming.”

Ross will be uploading monthly updates on his weight loss, plus pictures, on Ryan’s Rebellion against Battens page on Facebook.

He added: “The charity has been wonderfully supportive to us as a family. We want to be a voice for them, so that more research can be done and more families can be reached.”

To sponsor Ross visit https://www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/behindblueeyes.

Ross Buggins, his wife Leanne and son Ryan who has juvenile Batten’s disease