Man, 45, loses staggering 13st WITHOUT fat jabs – after horrifyingly embarrassing incident at footie match

WHEN Steven Duffield attended a football match, he had no idea what lay ahead.

When he tried to squeeze through the turnstile at the match ground, his proved to be more than a problem.

He got stuck in the turnstile – and it took several ground stewards to pull him out.

He went on to watch the rest of the match, but after that, vowed to take drastic action.

Now the 45-year-old has managed to walk off nearly 17 stone, in less than a year.

Steven, who lives in Worcestershire, said: “It was totally humiliating when I tried to get through the turnstile to watch the match, and I got stuck.

“It was infront of dozens of football fans, and I was so embarrassed.

“A couple of the stewards could see what had happened, and came forward to help.

“Between them they managed to tug me out. I knew then that things had to change.”

Steven, who is single, started piling on the pounds after losing his mum to a nine years ago.

He said: “I was struggling with my mental health previously to that.

“I had a nervous breakdown and I had to have therapy and the medication I was put on made me start to pile on the weight.

“Then just a year later, I lost mum, and she died in my arms as I was holding on to her.

“I was left to look after my dad who then went on to develop dementia, and I turned to food as a comfort.”

Steven didn’t have any , but then would have a takeaway every night.

He said: “I ploughed my way through Subways, Indian, Chinese, I had a different takeaway every night, and I’d eat and eat until I felt sick.

“I’d snack too on crisps, peanuts, anything I could get my hands on.”

I went to the doctor and he said I was so unhealthy that I had no more than ten years left to live Steven Duffield

It was when he went to a football match with his brother-in-law and two nephews one Boxing Day in 2022 at Port Vale’s home ground in Stoke on Trent, that he reached his rock bottom.

He said: “We’d gone to watch the match that Christmas, and everyone was in a good mood and looking forward to the game.

“But when it was my turn to get through the turnstile, I quickly realised that I was stuck. So many people were watching me, it was awful.

“After that I knew I had to do something about it, but I had no idea about how to go about it.

“I went to the doctor months later and he said I was so unhealthy that I had no more than ten years left to live.

“I was only 43 at the time, so that was devastating to hear.”

‘One step in front of the other'

In February last year, he decided to overhaul his and cut out the takeaways. And he also set himself a challenge of 50,000 steps in a day.

“It was about changing my mindset completely,” said Steven, who is now looking for love after being single for ten years.

“I was desperate, but it was as simple as putting one step in front of another and that's how I did it.

“I also took apple cider vinegar daily to boost my metabolism, and used a sauna every day too, to try and raise my heart rate to burn more calories.

“It was difficult to walk first of all, as I’d get so exhausted because of my size.

“And I walked just six miles in the first month. But it became more and more easy and now I’m up to 25 miles a day.

“I cooked more healthy meals too, and I was walking 50,000 steps a day.”

Steven, who now weighs 12 stone, is set to walk 1880 miles trekking across the Sahara desert in October this year, to fundraise for the Acorn Children’s Hospice.

‘Living in a fog'

It’s close to his heart as it provides support to his niece Meggie.

The 11-year-old has a rare chromosomal disorder called where some cells in the body have three copies of a chromosome instead of two, causing developmental issues.

Steven achieved his amazing 17-stone loss in December 2023 and has maintained his current weight for 15 months.

He added: “I went to a friend’s funeral last year, and had a ten-minute conversation with the parents and the dad tapped me on the shoulder later and apologised and said he’d had no idea whom he’d been talking to. They hadn’t even recognised me.

“The last ten years have been a total write off for me.

“It’s like I’ve been living in a fog. It feels like I’m a completely different person now.

“I would like to find Mrs Right one day, and I have got more confidence now thanks to losing weight.

“It has totally changed my life, and I feel blessed that I’ve been able to change before it was too late.”