A WOMAN who lost more than eight stones after being morbidly obese for most of her adult life has criticised the decision to cut funding for the free health service which has helped her.

Zoe Metcalfe ballooned to more than 22 stones and a size 32. After refusing bariatric surgery, she was referred to Person Shaped Support which delivers a healthy lifestyle service as part of Be Well Barnsley.

Last month Barnsley Council confirmed it plans to reduce Be Well Barnsley’s funding by £400,000 next year. It is working with the PSS to remodel the service over the next year, which will identify which services will operate once the budget is in place.

But Zoe, 48, of Belmont Avenue, Smithies, said the cut would cost the NHS in the long run.

She said: “I think it’s absolutely diabolical. I have lost 34 per cent of my body weight, which has reduced my risk of a heart attack, diabetes and strokes.

“In the long run, it will cost the NHS a lot more.”

Zoe was born with congenital dislocation of the hip, which means the ball and socket joint of her hips did not form properly. Her hip collapsed when she was 24, and she became a wheelchair user. She has had two hip replacements and is now waiting for a knee replacement.

Over the last two years she has lost eight stones and three pounds and now wears size 16 to 18 clothes.

She said: “Apart from the ability to now shop for clothes in every store instead of specialised, expensive stores, my self-confidence and body imagine has improved. I am more confident meeting new people and socialising.

“I am on a fixed income and I could not afford to go to a slimming class and gym. I would not have been able to maintain, nor do I believe I would not have come so far on this life changing journey without the non-judgemental support from the team.

“We have all had the lectures, read the leaflets on how to easy it to lose weight; simply, eat less sugar and more healthy food and move more but if it was so easy there would not be a vast amount of obese people in Barnsley.

“PSS is a brilliant service and it would be a shame if we lost it.”

Zoe said the service was tailored to individuals, and the free weigh in with advice and subsidised courses and gym, meant people like her were given a chance to exercise and learn healthy habits which would last a lifetime.

She had previously dreaded the thought of going to a gym, but now enjoys going to the gym at Shaw Lane where she feels comfortable.