Super slimmer Derbyshire mum-of-six launches £10,000 appeal for private surgery to remove excess skin

Tara Brown, 39, who lives in Poolsbrook, is aiming to raise £10,000 for a procedure that she cannot get done on the NHS.

She is suffering physically and emotionally from the 3st of loose skin mainly around her middle that has resulted from her weight loss after she tipped the scales at 28st 8lbs two years ago. Tara said: "I can't allow my husband Shaun to see me naked and he can't touch my tummy….it’s horrendous. I’m on morphine to cope with the pain of the weight pulling on my back as well as other problems in my thighs.”

Tara has a progressive disability called Hereditary Motor Sensor Neuropathy, which three of her children have inherited and which causes muscle weakness and bone deformity.

She said: "I had surgery when I was 11. They took bone out of both ankles, tried to straighten my feet and put staples in my knees. I was diagnosed with curvature of the spine at 16."

Her health issues include oedema, which is a build-up of fluid in the body causing affected tissue to become swollen, and lipodermatosclerosi where leg fibres underneath both knees form lumps in the shape of a champagne bottle.

During a lifelong weight struggle, Tara remembers the trauma of being a chubby child and bullied teenager. She said: “I was called wide-o...fat…couldn’t do PE. I had food chucked at me from the school bus.

"I stopped eating due to bullies plus anxiety and depression.”

From her teenage years and into adulthood, Tara would starve herself of meals during the day then eat unhealthy food, big bars of chocolate, crisps and biscuits at night.

Her wake-up call came two years ago when she was verbally abused in the street by the mum of a boy who had had a run-in with one of her sons. Tara said: "She called me a fat ****. This was the first time that an adult had said it to me in front of my children. I now know how it feels to be devastated and mortified.

"Looking back, I was just existing. I had no motivation, no energy, just plodding along day to day. I couldn't even walk to the shop across the road and back."

Tara's cousin, a coach for dietary supplement company Herbalife, helped her at the beginning of her weight loss journey. She said: "I had to learn how to eat again on a regular basis....to go from nothing to eating three meals a day as well as two snacks. It's now all home-cooked healthy meals.

"The more I've lost, the harder it's got - it's coming off even though it's a bit slower than it was in the beginning. I want to lose at least another four stone."

Now she has slimmed down from size 32, Tara can fit into size 18 jeans but the bulge on her tummy is difficult to conceal. She said: "I am constantly in control leggings and underwear. The excess skin is sucked in until it gets uncomfortable."

Tara has launched an appeal on GoFundMe to cover the cost of having the loose skin removed not only from her waist but also from her arms and thighs. She said: “In this country, it would cost £10,000 just to have skin removed from the tummy.”

Tara questioned a public-funded healthcare system that pays for gastric band surgery yet doesn’t fund a procedure to tackle the after-effect of weight loss such as hers. She said: "I don't agree that anyone can eat five takeaways a night and have a gastric band fitted by the NHS. Statistically, the number of failed gastric bands worldwide is through the roof, millions and millions of pounds wasted. They fail because people don't stick to the rules after the operation and soon fall back into unhealthy habits. I am hoping to inspire men and women and show that you can lose weight without the need for a gastric band."

To support Tara's appeal, visit www.gofundme.com/f/4b9z92-remove-excess-skin-after-weight-loss