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Grieving Scot saw his weight drop to under four stone after struggling to cope with deaths of his mum and grandfather

A SCOT suffered two heart attacks and saw his weight plummet to less than four stone after struggling to cope with losing his mum and grandfather.

Now, 18 years on, Tommy Kelly is still battling his inner demons and has to force himself to eat.

At 7st 8lb, Tommy, from Dalry, Ayrshire, is well below the healthy weight for his height of 5ft 9in.

The 35-year-old suffers from EDNOS – a mental illness which causes sufferers to starve, binge eat and over-exercise.

His weight problem, which can be triggered by grief or stress, have led him to abuse laxatives, make himself sick and follow crazy diets.

Sometimes, Tommy ate just an apple, a banana and an orange each day. At other times he lived exclusively on Pepsi Max to make himself feel full.

His health became so bad that he spent three months in a coma and a further six in hospital.

Tommy ended up with long-term medical problems because of the damage done to his body – including sciatic nerve damage, drop foot with no feeling below the knee and osteoporosis.

He has also suffered from severe bowel issues and brain damage due to kidney and liver problems.

Yesterday, he bravely spoke out about his condition – which is often fatal – in the hope that raising awareness will help other men with similar problems.

He said: “It is like being possessed. You become obsessed and isolate yourself from people.”

Tommy is still battling the eating disorder

Tommy’s problem started when he lost his grandfather and his mum in the space of a month.

His mum died of secondary breast cancer weeks after her father passed away in November 1997.

Tommy said: “I remember going to register my papa’s death and I said to my mum, ‘That’s it – I am going to stop eating sweeties’.

“My mum said that’s the last thing my papa would have wanted. But I started eating less and less and exercising to the extreme.

“I was a semi-professional footballer at the time. I played for Scotland under-17s and weighed 12-and-a-half stone.

“A couple of years later I went to Australia to visit my family. My doctor had advised me not to go because my weight was dropping and dropping.

“I hadn’t been diagnosed with an eating disorder at that point. When I arrived back in Glasgow, I was taken to hospital straight off the plane.

“My aunt in Australia had phoned my dad and told him how bad my condition was.”

Tommy, who by then weighed just four stone, collapsed on arrival at hospital and fell into a coma.

He also suffered a heart attack and was not fit to be released for months. During his hospital stay, he was fed by a gastric tube and had a restricted diet to prevent his malnourished body rejecting food.

But he recovered well enough to go home in summer 2000, weighing nine-and-a-half stone.

Feeling more in control of his life, he began working as a warehouse assistant and forklift driver and met his wife Laura, 41, on a night out in Kilmarnock.

But he had a relapse four years later when Laura took ill.

Tommy stopped eating after losing his mum (middle)

She had four miscarriages and was found to have ovarian cancer. Tommy began to reject food and ended up malnourished again, with his weight dropping to less than five stone.

His poor health caused him to collapse and very nearly cost him his life.

Tommy said: “I fell and hit my head off the bathroom suite. Then I had a massive heart attack. I ‘died’ for six minutes.

“Doctors had to insert a drain into my lung to get my heart restarted. I was in hospital for about five months.”

This time, when he was released, he was put in touch with the community eating disorder support service.

He managed to get his weight up to eight stone – but then his father suffered a stroke.

Tommy added: “Everything stayed stable until about two years ago, when my dad’s condition got worse.”

Tommy and Laura cared for his dad until his death just over a year ago. And again, Tommy’s eating problems returned.

But this time the eating disorder team recognised the signs and he was taken to hospital, once more weighing around five stone.

Now Tommy believes he has finally turned his life around, thanks to his involvement in Men and Boys Eating and Exercise Disorders Service.

Tommy’s disorder has never gone away

After getting help from the service, he now acts as a volunteer to support others.

He believes his fight against the eating disorder is proof that it is not only schoolgirls who struggle in this way.

The conditions are not usually associated with men, which can leave them too embarrassed to ask for help.

He said: “A lot of men have a problem coming forward because of the stigma.

“I have found that my key to recovery has been using different coping skills, such as celebrating anniversaries of my parents’ passing and living for them.

“My wife and I focus on what I want in life – to be there for her and my four dogs, and to help others find recovery.

“I also challenge the eating disorder’s voice and separate its thoughts from mine, which has proved critical in my health.

“I don’t see myself as fat and have no problem with food. It is just my way of coping with stress.

“I know I will suffer from this for life but now I can control it, rather than it controlling me.”