Last chat with the UK's fattest woman
Monday 09 August 2010
It was reported yesterday that obese Sharon Mevsimler died of a heart attack after struggling to stick to the strict diet she had been placed on.
Speaking to Closer magazine in her last ever interview, she spoke of her battle with weight loss and the junk food addiction that eventually lead to her demise.
Tipping the scales at a whopping 45st, Sharon used to be the UK’s fattest woman, and for six years she begged the NHS to pay for a £10,000 gastric bypass operation to help her lose weight.
The 41-year-old mum-of- four finally had the surgery and lost an incredible 23st – but despite her massive weight loss she was still debilitated by her size.
Bedridden Sharon almost died after developing an infection from sores in June, and lost the use of her legs and hands. Her family feared she may never be able to leave hospital.
But, Sharon said she desperately regretted having weight-loss surgery – because she missed junk food.
Speaking exclusively to Closer for the first time since the op, she said: “I thought surgery was the easiest way to lose weight fast. I hated my life and wanted to play with my kids like a normal mum. But now I’m even more miserable because I’m struggling to eat food like chocolate and takeaways.”
Sharon, who couldn’t get out of her reinforced bed at Broomfield Hospital in Essex, added: “If I’d listened to doctors and taken the diet route instead of surgery, at least I could’ve had the odd piece of chocolate or cake. But with a gastric bypass I have to chew for ages, which can be exhausting, so I don’t manage to eat as much.”
Shockingly, Sharon admitted that her family sneaked junk food into the hospital for her.
“If I ask them to bring me chocolate or treats, they will,” she confessed. “I can’t eat much more than one small chocolate bar at a time though.”
Sharon, who was 5ft, was just 8st when she married husband Bulent in 1989. Her weight only increased after she had her children – a son, now 19, 17-year-old daughter and twin son and daughter, aged 16. 
She recalled: “I put on lots of pregnancy weight and eating became a way of coping when I was tired or stressed. I loved fried chicken and fish and chips, which I’d eat for dinner, and I ate big fry-ups for breakfast.”
Full-time mum Sharon – who in 2003 started using a mobility scooter because at 35st she couldn’t walk more than a few steps – would often binge while the family slept, eating a tin of Quality Street and a packet of biscuits.
Bulent, 47, who gave up work to care for Sharon, admitted he’d give her chocolates and takeaway food whenever she wanted it.
“I knew it wasn’t helping her, but it was hard to ignore her when she was screaming out for food,” he says.
Sharon, who was eating up to 12,000 calories a day – 10,000 more than the recommended daily amount for women – added: “Bulent gave me a bed bath every day and with the help of my children would lift me on and off a commode. He even had to wipe my bottom. He never complained, but I knew he’d stopped fancying me – we hadn’t had sex for 10 years.”
In 2003, Sharon spoke to her GP about a gastric bypass when she got too big to fit in her scooter. But she was told she had to get down to 30st because her heart could fail during surgery.
A year later, when Sharon was 41st, the NHS paid for her to attend the £5,000-a-week Priory Hospital in London to help her lose weight. She lost 7st, but left after 24 weeks because she didn’t like the food. She recalled: “There were too many smelly vegetables. The thought of it still makes me feel ill.”
Ten months later, Sharon, who had specially adapted scales at home, weighed 40st and had resigned herself to spending her life in bed, until she was told the NHS had agreed to the gastric bypass.
In May 2009 she went on a strict diet of only milk for two weeks to help shrink her enlarged liver before the op.
Sharon, who lost 1st 4lbs in that time, claimed: “It was really tough, but it was the only chance I’d get at the surgery.”
The keyhole surgery to shrink her stomach in June 2009 lasted three and a half hours and went without complications. Four days later, she was allowed home and began losing more than a stone each month.
Sharon recalled: “It was such a relief at first. As soon as I had my stitches removed I started swimming in an inflatable pool in the back garden. It was easier for me to move in the water, and it was great to play with the kids.”
She added: “Doctors told me I could only eat small amounts of liquidised food and fluid every 30 minutes and I had to chew it really well, which was annoying, but I stuck to it.”
But in November 2009, when Sharon, who received care at home, was 30st, she woke to find she couldn’t feel her legs.
She said: “As I was being washed I felt a tingly sensation in my thighs. The nurse told me to try standing up, but I just fell back down on the bed. I couldn’t move my legs at all. Then my hands went floppy and I couldn’t move them either.”
Doctors couldn’t explain the lack of movement, so Sharon was admitted to a nursing home for 24-hour care. “I didn’t mind not having to get up, but it was horrible not being able to feed myself,” she complained.
Incredibly, despite her health problems, Sharon still ate junk.
She said: “I couldn’t eat as much as before the op, but I missed chocolate and cake so I’d occasionally eat some. I tend to have ice cream every day now, as that’s easy for me to digest.”
In June, Sharon, who had several infections as a result of painful sores on her back, caused by not getting up, developed septicaemia. She was rushed to hospital, where she slipped into a coma.
Her mum, Anne Hassan, 62, recalled: “The whole family were called to say goodbye to her. It was terrifying, but we refused to believe she couldn’t pull through. We kept talking to her to try to bring her round.”
Doctors gave Sharon strong antibiotics for the infection as well as vitamins, minerals and glucose, saying she was malnourished. Anne said: “We laughed when the doctor said that, but I guess she was just eating the wrong things.” 
Four days later, she came round. But Sharon, who had lost much of her hair as a result of the illness, was still in hospital and didn't know when she’d be able to go home. Doctors didn’t know if she’d ever regain the use of her arms and legs.
She said: “I hate being in hospital. I miss being with my family and my dog Jessie. When I had the op I thought I’d get my independence back, but now it’s like I’m starting all over again. I understand I could’ve died if I didn’t lose weight, but living like this is making me miserable.”
By Natalie Corp
Posted by sugar sweet
RE: Last chat with the UK's fattest woman
im sad that she lost her battle and she obviously had deep rooted issues but its just such a waste! a waste of NHS resources and a waste of human life!
i cannot belive the stupidity of this womans family, im sorry i hope there not reading this as there greiving and i dont mean to upset them but why the hell did they continue to aid her lifestyle by giving her junk food! they must have known she would end up dead if she carried on the way she was!
what this also shows is the cost of obesity to the NHS, they paid for her to go to the priory! thats the rehab that the elite go to is it not and a cost of £5,000 a week is absolutely disgracefull! then all the time she was in and out of hospital that cost the NHS to look after her and the final cost of the operation as well! im not saying that you can put a price on human life as everyone deserves healthcare and is worth trying to save but i cant help but think that it is unfair to spend sooo much money on trying to save 1 person when they are not willing to help save themselves!
they put her up in the priory and she left because she didnt like the food, she defied the doctors by eating junk food in her hospital bed and begged them to operate even though she knew she wouldnt be stopping eating crap!
she managed to stick to a diet of milk in order to loose weight to have the surgery done and she obviously did eat healthily at the clinic for the time that she stayed, so does it not prove that she could have lost weight naturally? its a shame her family didnt refuse her the junk food and help her to excercise as this may have ended differently but then of course i understand that you dont want to see the person you love miserable, hope she has found peace now and her family can be comforted by the fact that she is no longer suffering.
Posted 27/07/2010 11:50:38
Posted by TruthTeller2010
RE: Last chat with the UK's fattest woman
am I supposed to have symapthy for this woman?
People were trying to help her but she was just too greedy to help herself. Therefore throwing all the NHS treatment and money spent on her down the drain.....and her family?!?! what on earth were they thinking carrying on feeding her crap that was killing her?.........
Posted 27/07/2010 13:11:20
Posted by danni2911
RE: Last chat with the UK's fattest woman
I agree with the comments, this may sound harsh, but she deserved what she got... you cant blame others for your own mistakes and what chance did she have? If someone told you that injecting yourself with heroin would kill you would you stop? or would you just expect sympathy when you finally died? This case is no different, her family helped kill her, all they had to do was say no and she wouldn't of been able to eat and would have therefore lost weight from not being able to eat crap food!
Posted 27/07/2010 15:24:17
Posted by ParaPrincess
RE: Last chat with the UK's fattest woman
I almost feel bad saying this but when did she actually notice this incredible weight gain? It can't have happened over night. She made her own choices, no one else is to blame for her gluttony. I went on a diet once my size 12 clothes stopped fitting. Where does it end?
Posted 27/07/2010 18:29:51
Posted by guess_who
RE: Last chat with the UK's fattest woman
i think its wrong that , so much money was waisted on one person to try to help them to loose weight , she failed the private hospitial which cost £5000 per week for 24 weeks , then she was then given another chance for another £10,000 gastic bypass , i met sharon a couple of years ago , she use to eat all night , one n ight 18 bags of crisps, cornish paties , tins of chocolates ,had her own fridge in her bedroom next to her bed , sharon was only able to do the odd step and sit on her commode unaided , her mother , her family use to give her the food as sharon was unable to get out the room she was in , the family should be charged with manslaughter as they helped her to die by feeding her , if u was to go out and run some one over and they died u would be charged with manslaughter so what is the difference
Posted 27/07/2010 19:09:20
Posted by dinkydoughnut
RE: Last chat with the UK's fattest woman
ive just seen the artical about the uks fattest women !! and to be honest its gave the people thats had a gastric bypass a bad name ! im 28 and had a gastric bypass in november 2008 i was 34stone pre op, i had to come off work due to size ive worked as a painter since leaving school.i had the gastric bypass done,and now im 12 stone and been back at work for a year now. i no this operation has cost alot a money but its gave me second chance at life and im loving every minute !! if people think this operation is an easy way to lose weight ,let me tell you your so wrong its been the hardest year or so ive ever been through. but now i can look forward to living my life and can start to plan for the future !! thanks philip winnals
Posted 27/07/2010 19:22:09
Posted by teampete
RE: Last chat with the UK's fattest woman
This woman obviously had HUGE psychological problems and should have been seeing a psychiatrist for years before the gastric band was given to her. Also the fact that her family kept sneaking food into her didn't help....crazy. Still RIP and I hope your family will be ok, poor things
Posted 28/07/2010 09:53:02
Posted by lucy thurtell
RE: Last chat with the UK's fattest woman
20 years ago anorexics would have been told to "just ea something" force fed though a tube directly into their stomach's then just sent home to repeat the cycle. now we understand that it's not the sufferer's fault and have specialist council-ling programs ect to help. I just find it ironic that as a society we accept the compulsive restriction of food as an illness but not the compulsive over consumption. Everyone who's written horrible comments about this women should consider if they would have taken the same view if her heart attack had have been caused by anorexia of bulimia?
I just wish the NHS would stop funding dramatic surgery and instead concentrate on what appears to be a psychological compulsion.
Posted 02/08/2010 22:02:24
Posted by sugar sweet
RE: Last chat with the UK's fattest woman
lucy the point i was trying to make was the amount of monery spent trying to save 1 women. i agree that over-eating is caused by psychological issues and that she should have had counselling rather than treatment that was never going to work!
but the fact that she did stick to a diet of milk and ate healthily while she was at the clinic proves that she probably could have overcome it naturally without the need for surgery which she begged for and managed to loose weight before hand to qualify for it.
there are many programmes to try and help people who overeat as well.
maybe this is a really naive and stupid thing to say but i think its harder to get yourself out of anorexia and bulimia than it is to stop overeating, for a start anorexics do not know that there ill it takes them a long time to realise that there is a problem, also it is harder for family to help an anorexia sufferer whereas this women could have been saved if her family wernt stupid enough to keep giving her the food that was killing her, if they hadnt she wouldnt have been able to get it herself and the weight would have gone down without a doubt.
Posted 03/08/2010 09:44:42
Posted by slmac
RE: Last chat with the UK's fattest woman
I really feel for this woman. I have had a gastric band put in and only now I feel like a normal person and eat normally. Before I was constantly wanting food, I never felt full up. I could eat whatever I wanted and never felt satisfied through food. I guess some people are like that and others aren't. I tried every diet going and could lose weight on the diet, but the minute I wasn't following a diet the weight just creeped on. I was in denial about my weight for a long time. The bypass and band are not an easy option either and it is hard work adapting from a lifetime of overeating. It can be very frustrating. I know she let herself down and you need some determination to stick with it, but to say that she got what she deserved is incredibly harsh. Her family didn't help and should have supported her in others ways, like emotional support and encouragement. I do feel for her family though and wish them all the best.
Posted 06/08/2010 14:11:51
Posted by Pippa86
RE: Last chat with the UK's fattest woman
What a waste of £10,000, could of gone to someone who actually needed it, she put herself in that situation and because of her someone has had to go without!!
Don't mean to sound heartless but why didn't she try to change her eating habits when she first started getting bigger? could have prevented this whole thing!!!
Posted 20/09/2010 13:43:57