A WOMAN shed 24 stone in just over two years after being told her weight could cause her to die in her sleep.

Kerry Vanhoven, 33, was told by doctors in 2011, when she weighed 34 stone, that she needed to act.

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In a little over two years, Kerry has shifted half her body weight – and is now set to host her own Slimming World consultations in Thurrock.

Kerry said: “I always had weight problems, but I got to a stage where I was just eating fast food. When I was more than 30 stone, I was diagnosed with an illness, caused by weight, which meant I could stop breathing in my sleep. My doctor recommended I go for a gastric sleeve operation.”

The gastric sleeve helped Kerry lose 14 stone, simply through eating less.

But it was only when her husband, Alan, started putting on weight that she realised her diet still wasn’t right.

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She said: “My husband gained some weight so at the beginning of 2012 we both joined Slimming World and that was when things clicked into place. I also joined the gym. I now weigh just over ten stone.”

Kerry, of Haig Road, Chadwell St Mary, now hopes to keep up her healthy regime, help others in Tilbury with weight problems and look after her husband, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer.

She said: “He’s been ever so supportive. If I had been ill, I wouldn’t have been able to be there for him.”

At 7.30pm on Thursday, Kerry holds her first Slimming World consultation at Tilbury Band Hall.