In Her Own Skin

Vanessa is one of my closest friends we are practically sisters. She is always happy and bubbly even when she was slightly larger, actually slightly is being polite she was what doctor's would describe as morbidly obese.

I never knew that she was not happy with weight, until her 21st birthday when she confessed to me that she was seriously depressed and attempted suicide on more than one occasion. I felt like I had let her down. Vanessa was always there for me especially when I lost my granddad, but she had gone through this by herself. After years of bullying abuse Vanessa and I commited ourselves, with a lot exercising and watching what she ate, she lost almost 2/3 of her body weight.

4 years later she now weighs 149lb from 277lb, but now she faces a new problem. She suffers from severe excess skin and at such a young age I have seen its affect on her she has severe sores developing where the skin rubs together and she is also faced with an embarrassing hygiene problem. Also she can get yeast infection under the folds.

Vanessa said she's never been happier but I know she is not quite there. In 2012 I saw Vanessa go through two emotional breakup just because she is still not comfortable enough to get intimate with the opposite sex. She spent the whole summer wearing cardigans and not showing her arms.

As you may have gathered I love and adore my friend so much. So much so I have not uploaded any pictures to respect her privacy. (don't tell anyone, but this is a surprise). Her family cannot afford the surgery required to remove the skin so I came up with idea of doing a fundraiser to raise the money. This year she's turning 25 and a group of us are planning week of sun, sea and sand. I want her to have the best birthday ever. This is why we need your help please any amount will be greatly appreciated although she has managed to raise £2000 of her own money we still need £12,000 and I believe eventually we will reach our goal,

Thank You