Woman, 25, plummets to FOUR STONE after surgery damages her stomach

A morbidly obese woman came close to death when a gastric bypass caused her to lose a massive 27 stone.

Beth Birch reached 31 stone by the age of 19 but after the operation her weight plunged to a life-threatening four stone.

Ms Birch underwent the gastric bypass surgery after claiming her leg had snapped in nine places under her extreme weight, leaving her confined to a wheelchair.

Beth Birch, 25, lost 27 stone  after gastric bypass surgery. She dropped from 31 stone to 4st 3lbs. She is pictured (left) three months after the surgery and (right) eighteen months after the operation. She was told that she would die unless she gained weight

She hoped the surgery would help her to achieve her dream body but within weeks of the operation was losing weight dangerously fast.

Sixteen months later she was down to a skeletal 4st 3lbs and doctors told her she could die unless she started regaining weight.

Ms Birch was rushed to the Spire Murrayfield Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside, where specialists found her gut wall had stopped working so she could not absorb food.

She was put on a 15,000 calorie-a-day cocktail of medicines and drinks - plus six meals a day - to build up and defend her gut wall.
Her weight slowly climbed up to healthy 11 stone, but doctors warned her that because of her rapid change in weight she would probably never be able to have children.
However, Ms Birch became pregnant last year, and gave birth to daughter Violet 12 weeks ago.

By the time Ms Birch (pictured in her teens) was 19-years-old she weighed 31 stone. She believes that her weight gain was caused by polycystic ovary syndrome

She now weighs a healthy 12st 4lbs and can eat normally.Ms Birch, 25, of Manchester, said: ‘People said I looked like a corpse - in fact one person said he had seen a corpse look better.
‘I was lying on my mum’s settee and I couldn’t even lift me head up.
‘I was trying to eat but I wasn’t able to swallow and when I could my body just couldn’t absorb it.
‘My body was shutting down and I was so weak. I was wearing clothes for a ten to 11-year-old girl.
‘The doctors said to my parents he didn’t think I would be able to come through it and to prepare for all eventualities.’