A WOMAN shed more than half her body weight after being told she was too heavy for a life-saving transplant.

Karen Casey was told that at just 4ft 11inches, her 25st 7lb frame was high risk for surgery.

With a body mass index of almost 80 - almost four times the normal range --Karen was given an ultimatum: lose the pounds or face a lifetime on dialysis.

And Karen says the surgeon's warning was the turning point after more than 20 years of being dangerously overweight.

The determined 47-year-old, who turned down a gastric band, amazed doctors by shedding an incredible 13 stone.

And just last week, Karen was given a new kidney at Glasgow's Western Infirmary.

She said today: "I had this elation after the transplant that you can't put into words. I feel like I'm ready to conquer the world."

Karen, from Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, has only flown on a plane once in her life because she had read "horror stories" about passengers being too heavy for airline seats.

She even struggled to walk up a flight of stairs.

Karen gave up a degree in medicine at Glasgow University in her teens to care for her father, who had suffered a major stroke, and her sister, Winfred, 50, who is mentally and physically disabled.

With little time for herself she missed meals, sometimes going for days without eating and binged on unhealthy snacks such as cheese, fizzy drinks and chocolate.

The weight piled on and Karen, who wore size 30 clothes, faced regular abuse from the public.

She said: "I remember one time being in a supermarket in Wishaw and a wee boy shouted, 'Look at that really fat lady.'

"I had a bad relationship with food. I didn't eat anything for breakfast. Sometimes I would go for days without eating.

"I couldn't be bothered cooking for myself. I would snack rather than eat proper meals. I just didn't have a real interest in food."

It was only when Karen's kidney condition worsened and she was told dialysis was the only option that she took stock of the situation.

She said: "I've had kidney problems since I was 19.

"Five years ago I was told I had to go onto dialysis. I was really, really stressed about it.

"I asked about a transplant and was told by the consultant: 'Get down to 100kg (15st) and I'll think about putting you on the list'.

"The ball was in my court. There was not an option. It did me the world of good to hear that."

However, Karen is insistent that her weight did not stop her doing anything she wanted, including volunteering for the Red Cross and charities including Kidney Research UK and the Kidney Federation.

She lost the weight sensibly over two and half years by "finally listening to my dietician".

Simple changes like eating proper meals, cutting out unhealthy snacks and walking her collie Bindy a little further every day and the pounds dropped off.

She now eats cereal for breakfast, a sandwich and fruit for lunch and salad with chicken or fish for dinner.

Foods that were previously banned, such as bananas and certain vegetables, make it easier for her to eat a healthy diet.

She swims five times a week and has booked a 12-week course with a personal trainer for when she fully recovers from the transplant.

She said: "I think you should take responsibility for your own health. When people tell me they can't lost weight I don't believe them.

"I know people don't like to hear it.

"It's all about portion sizes. People don't realise how small your portion sizes should be.

"I was offered a gastric band but I refused. I wanted to be able to go out and enjoy a meal."

Karen is planning to write a letter thanking the family of the donor who made her transplant possible, and she is fully supportive of the Evening Times' Opt for Life campaign which aims to introduce an opt-out system of organ donation.

She said: "It should be the same system as Spain where organ donation becomes second nature."

Karen, who volunteered at the Commonwealth Games and carried the Queen's Baton, wants to lose a bit more weight to take her to her 10-stone target for her brother Stephen's wedding next year in St Albans.

She is also hoping to fly to Australia for the 2018 Games in the Gold Coast and has been offered cosmetic surgery on the NHS to tighten the loose skin left after her major weight loss.

She hopes to return to university to study a medicine-related course.

With her new-found confidence, Karen is also hoping that love might be on the horizon.

She said: "I'm on the lookout. You never know what's round the corner."

caroline.wilson@ eveningtimes.co.uk