A ROMSEY man is aiming to raise thousands of pounds in a bid to fund a "life changing" weight loss surgery.

Ashley Le Bas, from Fleming Place, weighed in at 26 stone in January last year, where he would regularly wear a mask to help him breathe at night.

After 14 months, the 32-year-old managed to shed ten stone and now he is on a mission to remove his excess skin by raising £11,000.

Ashley's wife, Emma, said: "Ashley had been trying all the fad diets over the years and nothing had worked.

"I think the eye-opener was when he was put on the machine which helped him breathe at night, as it made him realise things needed to change.

"We decided it would be a lifestyle change and not a diet, which made it a lot easier.

"Ashley's grandad also died when he was six months into his lifestyle change and his grandad was really proud of him so it made him want to keep going.

"He started off walking the dog, sticking to three meals a day and has now done a couple of 10K races, but he has to wear a really tight vest to hold his excess skin in and it is very painful.

"We have raised £1,000 so far and we were told by the NHS it would probably be better to go down the private route."

The 31-year-old added: "Ashley would have his surgery at the Nuffield Health Wessex Hospital in Chandler's Ford and it would be great if we could do this within a year; I would love it to be done in the next month.

"I think when you have to put up with this every single day it is at the forefront your mind and it would be life-changing if he had this surgery.

"He would be able to everything other people can do without having to worry about his weight.

"It would give him that last bit of confidence and it would be the icing on the cake."

To donate to Ashley's weight loss surgery, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/1sx9tunolc?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet