'Tragic fatal event led to me losing more than half my body weight'

A mum who weighed almost 27 stone managed to drop more than half her body weight after her sister's death and a horror house fire inspired her to make "serious changes".

Sharon Pitkethly, a full-time carer at 5ft 11in tall, was a size 32 when she reached her heaviest weight of 26st 12lb (170.5kg) in 2015. The 54-year-old found herself trapped in a "vicious cycle" of depression, anxiety and overeating until two major tragedies drove her to transform her lifestyle. In 2015, her house burst into flames, and while she wasn't injured, she said the experience gave her a new outlook on life. Sharon spent the next eight years losing seven stone 4lb (46.2kg) with WeightWatchers, but often slipped back into old habits, such as excessively snacking. In 2023, she tragically lost her sister - and from that point, vowed to honour her memory by committing fully to her weight loss journey.

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Sharon has since dropped another 6st 8lb (41.7kg) through WeightWatchers and goes swimming regularly. She now weighs 13st (82.5kg), wears a size 16, and feels like a "new person". Sharon, who lives in Newcastle upon Tyne with her husband, Dean, 60, said: "Every time I look in the mirror I see my sister, and I have lost her, but she's still there. [...] I've done it for her... and I know she'd be proud of me."

Detailing her weight battle, the mum, who was once severely obese with a BMI of 52.4, said: "The more I got anxious, the more I got depressed, the more I ate, so then I would cry and lose weight, and then I wouldn’t feel very well, or something would happen, and then I would be straight back off the diet. I'd be on for six months, off for three, and I kept putting more and more weight on each time."

"I felt like I let my children down - we went to Alton Towers and Chessington and things but I couldn’t go on the rides," Sharon added. "I wouldn’t be in any photos, I didn’t want to go out for meals as a family, it wasn’t as enjoyable as it could have been for them."

On September 15 2015, Sharon's home caught fire - a tragedy she believes was caused by a tumble dryer which left behind £200,000 worth of damage.

She said: "I came back from the school run and smelled smoke - I had a utility room and thought something isn't right. There was smoke coming out of the dryer and it caught fire, and I just had this beautiful new kitchen, and I opened the back door thinking it would get the smoke out, but it inflamed it. It was a ditsy moment but the whole house was damaged from the fire and smoke."

Sharon was thankful her husband and children were safe but her anxiety worsened, and returning to WeightWatchers gave her a much-needed distraction. By the end of 2023, she had lost 7st 4lb (46.2kg), dropping four dress sizes, and weighing 19st 8lb (124.2kg) with an obese BMI of 38.2.

Sharon says she was determined more than ever after her sister Kaleena, passed away at the age of 45. She explained: "On the day she died, I promised her it’d be different this time and lose the weight. I thought I can’t let my mum lose another daughter because [...] so I thought, 'Right, just do it'."

"WeightWatchers has been amazing - I always knew it worked, I just struggled sticking to it, but that was my fault," Sharon said. "The support there is brilliant, everyone is in the same position as you, and I don’t think I could have done it otherwise."

She added: "I did go back to Alton Towers, and went on the roller coaster, and I wasn't even bothered about the ride! I've started swimming and love it, and going to the gym, I never thought I'd be doing that.

"I feel like a new person, I'm much more confident."