A determined dad-of-two has lost 10st in less than a year after tipping the scales at a staggering 31st 6lbs.

Dylan Thomas, from Ringlestone, Maidstone, made the decision to shed a drastic amount of weight when doctors warned he would not survive an operation to fit a gastric band.

In 11 months, the 27-year-old has dropped at least 38 inches.

Mr Thomas, of Calder Road, said: “The surgeon said I would die during the operation because I was so overweight. It was the wake-up call I needed.”

The 5ft 11ins former Senacre School pupil started to gain the pounds about five years ago after he was injured in a car crash and left him unable to work for a while.

Mr Thomas admits he would consume around 6,000 calories a day and did no exercise.

“I was like a couch potato,” he said. “I didn’t realise how much I weighed as the scales at home would only say ‘error’ when I stood on them.”

His bulk weight restricted his mobility and made it difficult for him to continue working when he started working at Pickard and Beale Funeral Directors in Brewer Street, Maidstone, and after three months in the job he resigned.

Mr Thomas said: “It might sound odd but I really enjoyed working in the funeral trade.

“I liked being able to fulfill someone’s last wishes and offer their families a service their loved one would have been proud.

“It was something I wanted to do from an early age but I had to quit as I would sweat constantly and always be out of breath.”

The young dad signed up for Slimming World at Aylesford Community Centre, in Forstal Road, last August, on the same day as the meeting with the surgeon, and dramatically changed his lifestyle.

He lost five stone in four months, watching his waist measurement shrink from 62 inches to 46 and his BMI drop from 60.4 to 41 by Christmas.

His partner, Jody Long, went to offered moral support and has dropped two stone herself. They have won various awards through the weight loss group.

The couple, who are parents to five-year-old Dylan Jnr and daughter Paige, aged two, enjoy a meal plan of fruit, vegetables and protein. Mr Thomas burns calories by walking the dog twice a day and allows himself a chocolate bar after his weekly weigh-in.

He said: “I feel so much better in myself. I can pick my kids up and play with them without being out of breath.”

Mr Thomas hopes to reach his target weight of 16st by December. He has secured work as a delivery driver for Tesco, based in Aylesford, but hopes to return to the funeral industry.

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