CHRIS Bisset lost more than weight when she joined a slimming club - she lost the stammer she had suffered all her life.
She had always wanted to lose weight but was shy to seek help because of her speech problems.
Chris, of Stockton, decided to act as her 45th birthday loomed. She braved a meeting of the Hartburn Slimming World Club and a whole new life opened up for her.
She said: "When I joined the club it was fantastic. The people there treated me like a human being.
"I had seen an article about the McGuire Programme, which helps people with speech problems, and I decided to try the course. By the end of it I was a different person.
"If I hadn't gone to the slimming club I would never have had the confidence to try."
On the first day of the course, held in Durham City, Chris had difficulty saying hello - but by day three she was standing in the city centre, shouting her name and telling passers-by about the programme.
Her two sons and husband Ian have been amazed and delighted by the transformation.
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