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October 2009 |
I hit 20st to escape violent husband
Mum of six piled on the pounds to drive away her abusive partner – and then dropped six dress sizes
 A MUM who deliberately gained weight to escape a violent marriage has revealed her extraordinary battle to regain her figure and sanity. At just 5ft 2in, Cathy Carthy ate until her 9st frame ballooned out of recognition.
Her abusive husband then walked out on her, ending their 18-year marriage. It left her with another problem to solve: how to put her life back together and overcome her eating disorder. Cathy, 56, told the Faversham Times: “I was in a violent marriage and knew if I ate and put on weight, one day he’d leave me – and that’s exactly what he did. “It was a relief, but it was just the start of many years fighting a battle with comfort eating.”
At the time her typical daily diet included nearly a loaf of bread and a pound of sausages foe breakfast, two big Mac meals for lunch followed by bread and potatoes for tea. While trying to turn around her life, the Irish mum of six moved into a women’s refuge in Canterbury. She recalled: “The other girls tried to get me to join for a night out, but when I looked in the mirror I just cried.”
Following a suicide attempt two years ago, Cathy was admitted to St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester for gastric bypass surgery. She weighed nearly 20 stone. Cathy said: “I was so low, all the diets I tried has failed. I wouldn’t even go outside and relied on my children to pick up food for me. After surviving my suicide attempt, I realized my number wasn’t up and decided to do something about it.”
Speaking this week from her home in Thomas Neame Avenue in Faversham, Cathy-who has lost an amazing 5st 8 lb and dropped six dress sizes since the surgery-said she no longer feels helpless and is looking for love again. She plans to celebrate her new slim look by traveling to Ireland for Christmas with her nine sister and three brothers. Cathy said: “I haven’t seen them since 1992 when my mother died, but I’m so excited. I can’t wait for Christmas – it will be the cherry on the cake of the best year of my life.”
Following her irreversible surgery, which reduced her stomach to the size of an egg, Cathy’s diet now comprises a small bowl of cornflakes for breakfast and slimming brand meals. Meat is off the menu. She said: “The surgery has changed my life. I’m now hoping to get down to 9st again and to meet a man who is interested in sharing some quality time with me again.
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