SLIMMER’S CONFESSION
Scarlet Corsi’s weight-loss surgery changed her life, but not in the way she expected…
For most people, dropping a few dress sizes would boost their confidence – but for Scarlet Corsi, 37, it’s unlocked an entirely new set of insecurities.
Scarlet, 37, had always turned to food for comfort growing up – and in 2018 after suffering a double tragedy with her marriage ending and the death of her mother, her weight spiralled to 28st, taking her to a dress size 30.
BULLIED
But after a trip to a theme park left her feeling humiliated, Scarlet decided that the only way forward for her was weight-loss surgery.
In 2019, she was referred for a gastric sleeve and lost an incredible 14st in just three years, but the dramatic weight loss has left her with excess skin.
Scarlet, a content creator, says, “I was so proud of what I’d achieved but now the loose skin is ruining my sex life. I’m horrified by my body as my breasts are saggy and I’ve got massive amounts of skin hanging from my stomach.”
Scarlet’s problems began as a child. She says, “I was always bigger than my friends. In primary school I was constantly bullied. At lunch time kids would sneak up behind me and make oinking noises.”
COMPLICATIONS
And the taunting didn’t stop there, with Scarlet being subjected to physical torment too. She says, “It left me feeling isolated, so I turned to food to fill the void.”
By the time she left secondary school, Scarlet, who lives in Alabama, USA, weighed 19st, and comments about her weight only became more ruthless. She says, “One day I was in a shop when a stranger approached me and asked if I felt ashamed for being so fat. I wanted the ground to swallow me up.” Scarlet, who married in 2015, suffered trauma when just three years later the relationship broke down out of the blue and, just a few weeks later, her mum died unexpectedly after suffering with a lung condition.
Hit by a tidal wave of grief, Scarlet coped the only way she knew how – by eating. She says, “I’d order massive portions of chicken strips, burgers and burritos and have up to 12 cans of pop a day. When I was eating, it took away the pain that I was feeling.”
In 2019, Scarlet reached 28st and a size 30, and with it came a whole host of health complications. She says, “I stopped breathing in my sleep and was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I had to use a CPAP machine [a device to supply pressured air to help breathing]at night.
“Around this time, I visited Universal Studios. It should have been a dream trip, but I realised j
