Staple diet

[Guest guest]

Staple diet

Published 6/1/2006

A life of misery drastically changed by keyhole surgery, more than

100 stone in weight lost, a world record achieved and now a TV

documentary on Discovery Home and Health to be shown on Tuesday. The

Thorne family - seven of whom have lost radical quantities of weight

following stomach-stapling - has tackled obesity both publicly and

radically. Shaun Shackleton catches up with two members who are

happy to have lived to tell the tale.

Flashback to February 2004, when a Guernsey Press feature told of

and Martyn's radical weight loss. (Picture by land,

0062603)

THE two men sitting opposite are no strangers to me. They are

brothers-in-law to my aunt. I have shared many family occasions with

them and years ago, the three of us worked for the same builders'

merchant.

On the other hand, they are both very different from the men I used

to know: is 23 stone different and Martyn 20.

After being unable to put pressure on his knee and told that surgery

was impossible due to his weight - at 35 stone, it was feared that

he would not survive the anaesthetic - Martyn was the first to

undergo a life-changing form of surgery: stomach stapling.

Performed in Guernsey by Medical Specialist Group surgeon

van den Bossche, who is only one of a handful of professionals who

can perform this delicate keyhole surgery, the operation reduces the

size of the stomach and small intestine so that food is fast-tracked

into the bowel and the body doesn't absorb as many calories.

'People asked me if I was offended that Mr van den Bossche had

approached me and suggested that I have my stomach stapled,' says

Martyn.

'But I was just pleased that someone cared.'

had also been advised by his doctor to lose weight, but he'd

been told more bluntly.

'I was suffering blackouts, I had diabetes and thrombosis. My doctor

said I only had one year to live.

'I would never have gone for the stapling off my own bat, but when I

saw how well Martyn was doing I thought " it's do or die " . Mr van den

Bossche has given me my life back.'

But the operation is a potentially fatal one. One in every hundred

patients die following surgery from staples coming loose and leading

to poisoning, or from total heart failure - although no one has died

under the care of Mr van den Bossche.

'There is a big risk,' says the surgeon. 'We can have big

complications. One patient in every hundred can or will die.

However, I think the risk is overrated. I think it is a lot safer. I

think the true mortality rate is less than one per cent.'

'Many people believe the process is a quick and easy fix,' says

Martyn. 'But it's not. We had to work hard before we were even

considered for the op.' To curb his appetite, Martyn had a balloon

placed in his stomach for six months before surgery and lost 12

stone by drinking two cups of what he described as 'mixture' and

eight pints of water daily. 'It's like Complan,' he says. 'Only

you're on the toilet all day.' But during this time no counselling

was offered. 'Nothing.' says Martyn. 'I was told to look up the

operation in the library and to find out more about it on the

Internet - I ordered a book by an American lady - so I had to work

through it myself.'

After a year of national media interest and appearing on Channel 4's

and Judy, and Martyn, along with other family members,

are about to feature in a documentary about their former obesity,

their operations and the resulting weight loss.

Thorne, pictured on the day of his stomach-stapling operatio,

left - and the new, almost-unrecognisable version. (0273346)

Made by Channel Island company Spike Productions, it has been

described as a 'fascinating insight into the lives of a truly

extraordinary family'. Former Watchdog presenter and executive

producer Oakley says of working with the family: 'Before

making the film, I think we all thought this operation was a quick

fix for people who can't be bothered to lose weight by diet and

exercise. Having seen what this family has been through - the

constant spiral of never losing weight, the pain and discomfort

after the operation, the inability to ever eat normally again, plus

the risk of dying as a result of complications - we all feel

differently now.'

Controversially, the film also features footage of 's son,

, undergoing surgery. At 17 and weighing

22 1/2 stone, was the youngest person in Britain to have his

stomach stapled - according to UK medical guidelines, patients

should be over 18.

But Martyn says: 'If I'd been offered the chance to have had this

operation when I was 's age, I would've jumped at the chance.'

Since the operation in June, has lost six stone. From being an

introspective teenager who once said, 'When I'm on my computer I can

chat to people online and nobody knows what I look like', his

confidence and self-esteem have grown so that now he has developed

the skills he once hid behind to take a course in art and design at

the College of Further Education.

I wonder how the brothers have coped with all this media attention.

When I worked with them, they were fiercely private men. '

and Judy were great,' says . 'She's nice but no sooner had she

asked you a question than he'd butt in and answer it for you.'

Martyn agrees. 'We were in the green room with champagne and nibbles

and Carol Vorderman was there - she's nice, very genuine. But

outside we saw this limo pull up and bodyguards everywhere. It was

Costner. He was in for a private interview. We never got to

meet him.'

But following the screening of the documentary on Tuesday, and

Martyn are calling a halt to media interviews.

says: 'All these things we've done, we haven't been paid a

penny for. With and Judy we got put up in a hotel, but

that's about it. got £500 from Take a Break magazine and me

and Martyn have been interviewed by the Sunday Mirror.'

But, they stress, they're not doing it for the money. What they

really want to put across is that if you have reached rock bottom,

there is an alternative. 'If it can work for us,' says Martyn, 'it

can work for anyone. It's not easy. It's hard work. But we are

living proof.'

When I worked with them, their weight was never mentioned by any of

the lads. Everyone seemed to think that if they were happy to live

in such a way, then why should anyone else think otherwise? Of

course, there were a few idiots with snide comments who believed in

the myth of the 'happy and cowardly fat man' or those who were

ignorant of and Martyn's potential rage, but they were few and

far between.

'Yeah,' remembers Martyn. 'I always believed it was better to be fat

and happy than thin and miserable.' says: 'No one said anything

to us because we were all mates.' I reminded them that when the 'bun

wagon' visited the wood yard where we worked, they would order

several pasties, sausage rolls, crisps, Danish pastries and two Diet

Cokes and consume them in a garden shed in the corner of the mill.

'I knew you would mention that' laughs Martyn. 'But those days have

changed. Because of the op, I can't even look at a Chinese meal

without feeling sick. And you know what I was like about my

Chinese.' Likewise, is now off certain foods. 'I can't touch

anything from the chippie,' he says.

At 17, - pictured here an hour before the radical operation

and today - is the youngest person in Britain to have had his

stomach stapled. (0273350)

But the surgery has also brought other changes for the brothers.

After seven years' unemployment, applied for a job at the PEH

in the incinerator department. 'I didn't think I'd stand a cat in

hell's chance,' he says. 'But I filled the forms in and handed them

in.'

He had the interview and three days later he got the job. 'I never

thought I'd work again,' he admits.

Similarly, Martyn's ambition was to ride his bike on the Rock to

Rocque charity event. 'Every year I've watched my daughters do it

and I've followed behind in my car. I always promised them that I'd

do it with them.' The documentary shows him doing just that.

'Another great thing is going into Town and actually buying clothes

off the peg,' says . Martyn agrees. 'I sometimes catch a

reflection of myself in a shop window and think " Nah, that's not

me! " .'

Once, on holiday in Tenerife, a reminder of his past self came back

to haunt him. 'We were walking through a hall of mirrors when my

daughter started laughing. " That's what you used to look like, Dad, "

she said. And you know, it was - exactly.'

'Being able to have a bath or a shower is great,' says , 'and

getting behind the wheel of a car. At my worst, my wife, Sue, had to

drive me to the doctor and I'd have to go in the back. Also, walking

is my thing now. I've seen parts of Guernsey I didn't even know

existed.'

The only permanent reminders of the past are a photograph Martyn has

of himself from five years ago and a couple of items of outsize

clothing. But what does the future hold?

'A tummy tuck,' says Martyn - the operation sorts out the fat but

the stretched skin remains. 'I wanted to do the bike thing and I

achieved that, but I want to walk down the beach in just a pair of

shorts. I can still go on the beach and go for a swim but I have to

wear a tee shirt and I don't want to.'

And ? 'I'm just looking forward to getting back to normal. All

this media attention and being filmed 24/7 is not for me. I like

walking down the Bridge with Sue and saying hello to someone and

them not recognising me and then shouting, " Ignorant! " . They

recognise the voice.'

and Martyn Thorne are now looking forward to a future that was

once either bleak or non-existent and along with other members of

this extraordinary family they are just grateful to have been given

back not just their self-esteem and confidence but also their life.

The experiential learning they have both been through via this life-

changing process has altered them irrevocably - all for the better.

They seem even closer as brothers than they did in the old

days. 'People always used to recognise us for all the wrong

reasons,' says Martyn. 'Now we have something positive in common

instead of something negative.'

*The documentary, which was produced by former Channel Television

presenter Warren Mauger and directed by Liam Leguillou, will be

shown on the Discovery Home and Health Channel on Tuesday at 10pm.