I wanted to be 50 and FABULOUS
WOMAN'S OWN|July 20, 2020
When patients mention that ‘wee skinny nurse’, Heather Campbell, 52, still finds it hard to believe they’re talking about her
ANNA MATHESON
I wanted to be 50 and FABULOUS

Powerless, out of breath and my cheeks burning with embarrassment, I watched my colleagues lift a poorly, stricken lady into a wheelchair and whisk her inside the emergency room. ‘You couldn’t help her,’ I chastised myself, following behind as shame bubbled under my size XL scrubs. I’d been a nurse 10 years and loved working in the busy A&E at University Hospital Ayr, but that day, in the summer of 2014, I’d never felt so guilty or low, because, at 46, my weight was so out of control I hadn’t been able to help a patient in need.

Food was a huge part of my life, and even growing up we regularly ate greasy takeaways or could be found baking. Over the years, despite the busy shifts and having a young family, I struggled with my weight, and by the time I had my third child in 1999, it’d really crept up.

I tried to shift it. I’d join my local WW group and lose a few stone, but then I’d stop going, convinced I could carry on alone, only I’d pile it back on.

Then, in 2003 – when my kids were three, 14 and 16 – I became a single mum. Between supporting my kids and the shifts, I didn’t have time to consider my health. I’d make sure they were eating healthily, but my own diet was lacking. For breakfast I’d have an energy drink and a bacon roll from the canteen, then lunch would be full of carbs and fat. After a 12-hour shift, I’d be too exhausted to cook so I’d grab a takeaway.

By 2014, I was struggling to fit into my XL uniform, and at 5ft 4in didn’t carry the weight well, either. ‘I’m such a hypocrite,’ I’d think whenever I hadto encourage a patient to lose weight. I’d sit there advising them to eat more healthily when I was fatter than they were.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 20, 2020 من WOMAN'S OWN.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 20, 2020 من WOMAN'S OWN.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.