At almost 19 stone, Verity Carnie could barely walk up the stairs.

A size 26 in January this year, Verity, of New Hey Road in Outlane, had a very different eating problem to her Examiner Community Courage Award-winning six-year-old son Theo, who is unable to eat at all due to a rare bowel condition.

It was one that was not helped by her being diagnosed with hypothyroidism, a condition that causes weight gain.

But less than six months later, Verity, 39, who was 18 stone 10lbs, has defied all the odds by losing almost seven stones – making her ‘unrecognisable’ to many people, including her own boss.

Her impressive weight loss began when she decided that she was unable to go on living as she was.

Verity, who has just restarted her career as a children’s nurse, said: “I’ve struggled with my weight for most of my life – it’s something a lot of people in my family have had problems with.

“Maybe having hypothyroidism wasn’t helping either and my weight had always gone up and down.

“I was a size 16 when I met my partner Nathan, but after Theo was born I just started to balloon.

“I think I got so big because of the amount of time I had to spend with Theo in hospital, where it was hard to eat the right things.

“I’d spend 13 weeks at a time in Great Ormond Street Hospital with him and survived on takeaways and snacks.

“I also got into the habit of buying ready meals for when we were at home, it was a dangerous cycle.

“It was very ironic – I couldn’t stop eating and Theo just couldn’t.”

She said her darkest days came last year when she had to start wearing size 26 clothes.

“I was finding it hard to walk my dog and even keep up with Theo, who doesn’t run very fast at all. And I could barely get up the stairs in our own house, I’d be so out of breath.

“I had rock bottom confidence and didn’t really go out, I even got all my clothes online.

“But it was late last year when I was wearing a size 26 dress which I realised was actually a bit tight that I realised something had to change.

“My mum is a Slimming World target member and she asked me to go along to a class so I decided to go with my friend on January 5.”

She soon became as fixated with dieting as she had been eating food.

“The weird thing was how easy I found it but once I get something in my head that’s it.

“I think being able to still eat the foods I liked helped a lot.”

Verity decided to take up exercise too.

“I started going walking, to exercise classes and swimming because I wanted to have a more active life.

“In fact, I decided to give myself a challenge and signed myself up to swim one mile in the Great North Swim event in the Lake District.

“I actually completed it in June in 40 minutes– it was the best feeling in the world.”

Slimmed down Verity Carnie with son Theo after completing her one mile Great North Swim challenge in June

Now a svelte 11 stone 11lbs and a size 8 to 10, she has happily thrown away most of her old clothes aside from one dress that both she and Theo can fit into with a bit of room to spare.

“It’s absolutely massive.

“People say that they didn’t realise that I was so big.

“One of the funny things that has come out of it is how I’m unrecognisable to some people now.

“I went for an interview to become a children’s nurse in Bradford and when I started work I said hi to my manager but she had no idea who I was.

“It’s been an absolutely life changing experience.”

Motivated by her own success, Verity has opened up her own Slimming World club in Milnsbridge.

“What I’ve realised is that anyone can lose weight and even if they have hypothyroidism like me – I think those with it have as good a chance as anyone else.

“I got up in front of my first class a couple of weeks ago, something that I would never have done when I was big.

“It felt amazing and it feels so good to be able to inspire people who are just like me a few months ago.”

She enjoys giving tips to others about how to lose weight.

“I give out recipes and share tips I’ve found along my way.

“They’re really simple things like learning not to eat any more when I’m full but also knowing that I don’t have to cut out treats like going to a curry house – I just go for the healthier options now.

“The whole experience has been great and has totally changed the way I think about food – I want to help others do the same.”

And Verity says that Theo, who is still fed through tubes, likes his new look mum.

“He calls me his healthy mummy now and it’s great to be able to be able to run around with him.

“He’s doing really well at the moment too – it’s great to all be so happy.”