‘I’ve lost 36 stone and I have got my life back’
ONE of Wales’ heaviest men has lost an astonishing 36 stones in just 12 months. When Stuart Prosser joined South Wales Police at the age of 17 he was an athletic and gifted rugby player.
But three decades on, his increasingly sedentary lifestyle saw his weight balloon to almost 55st, making him one of the heaviest men in Wales.
His size became such an issue that he did not leave his home for three years and was barely able to walk from his chair to the toilet.
And when he needed urgent treatment in hospital, it took 12 paramedics to put him into an ambulance on two occasions.
But after being left deeply embarrassed by the ordeals, he decided to make drastic changes to his lifestyle – and with help from the NHS he managed to lose a truly astonishing 36st in just over a year.
“My wife has her husband back and my three children have their dad back,” beamed father of three Stuart, 54, from Tonteg, near Pontypridd.
Stuart said he was 6ft 4in and a fit 19st when he started with the police as a cadet, before becoming a constable a year later.
But after working his way up the ranks he took on a more officebased role. From then on, his weight began to pile on.
By 2010, despite trying “every diet imaginable”, Stuart said his weight spiralled out of control and he tipped the scales at 49st.
After a consultation with his doctor, the decision was made for Stuart to have a gastric band fitted in Bristol, which led to him losing 7st. But he was unable to keep the weight off.
“It soon became apparent I could no longer continue with my job, and so I retired,” said Stuart, who left the police in 2014.
“I didn’t realise it at the time, but from that day on I found myself in the depths of depression.”
Stuart said he retreated completely from life and was killing himself through excessive eating and heavy drinking.
In 2017, weighing close to 55st, Stuart was admitted to hospital with an infection from open sores on his stomach.
He spent three months at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant, and he was discharged from hospital weighing 36.9st. He also saw a psychologist, who explained to him that his excessive eating was a form of self-harm.
However, in February 2018 Stuart was re-admitted to the Royal Glamorgan with a chest infection.
He was discharged after two weeks but suffered with vertigo and was left housebound once again, leading to his weight soaring.
“In June 2018 I fell out of bed and I couldn’t get up, so again 12 members of the ambulance had to come out and put me in an ambulance.”
Weighing 54.2st, Stuart finally felt ready to work with the NHS to get his weight down.
“With the knowledge I gained from the psychologist, for the first time everything began to make sense,” he said.
“Why was I eating so much? It was all down to depression.”
Through calorie counting and exercise, within 12 months Stuart had reduced his weight to 17 and a half stone. He has now transformed the family’s dining room into a gym, and he is walking every day with his two dogs.
“If you need help, ask for it,” he said. “The staff who have helped me have been outstanding. I finally have my life back.”