Bohemia Village Voice

Laura Ripley

Laura Ripley, whose brave fight to overcome her weight problem has been featured in earlier numbers of the Voice, recently achieved a major goal. She and her aunt travelled in style in a hired Mercedes Benz to see her favourite band, Take That, at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, London on December 8th. Laura, who at one time weighed 38 stone, has by dieting, workouts at Falaise gym and sheer determination now got her weight down to 25 stone 10 lbs.
She was offered radical surgery, which had to be done in two stages to be safe, as it would be dangerous for her to be under anaesthetic for too long a time. The first stage was successfully completed in October. In a key-hole operation, surgeons at St.George’s Hospital in Tooting, London, took away three-quarters of her stomach and stapled it. She now needs to lose another 4-5 stone before she has stage two of the operation, though she may not need to have this if she gets on really well. When she gets down to 13 -14 stone she will be able to go back to St. George’s for a tummy- tuck.
At time of writing, Laura is still recovering from surgery, and in the New Year will be starting up her campaign to help others with obesity. She will set up meetings at the Four Courts Hall and at Broomgrove, to discuss, amongst other things, a sponsored walk, which will finish at the pier.   “It’s especially for people with weight problems,” says Laura, “so it’s not too long, and it’s a walk, not jogging or running!”  She is going to be setting up a self-help group in her Mum’s name, Doreen’s Drop-in, and getting a website. She also hopes to speak at schools about the dangers of obesity. Hastings Voluntary Action are helping her with her campaign.
Freedom Leisure, who run Falaise gym, have asked Laura to be their rôle model, and she will appear in their national magazine, “Zest”. She told us she is hoping to make two further appearances on the Jeremy Kyle Show, “an update and then a final one, in my jeans!” 

Good luck Laura!