Mum-of-three with phobia of sitting on chairs after breaking sofa in two sheds 10 stone after surgery

A woman, who developed a phobia of breaking chairs after snapping her own sofa in two 13 years ago, has shed 10 stone in one year following drastic surgery. Caroline Archer, 39, was left terrified sitting on chairs and would refuse to eat out in restaurants in case she would buckle the seat.

Weighing 24st then, the customer service worker from West Lothian, Scotland was even forced to buy a special bariatric chair costing £500 for her office in Livingston, Edinburgh. She also became “borderline reclusive” as she would avoid socialising including going to cafes, concerts, cinemas, and flying on aeroplanes.

Despite multiple attempts to get her weight under control, Caroline’s sweet tooth left her binge-eating chocolate biscuits and tubs of ice cream before travelling to Istanbul, Turkey in May 2022, for the £3,000 gastric sleeve operation.

In just nine months, Caroline, who now weighs 14st, ditched her old habits and went from a size 26 to a size 16 in an effort to feel comfortable again around chairs. She said: "Around 11 years ago, I sat down on the middle of my own sofa and it broke.

"I was devastated and what seems like a joke now felt humiliating at the time. I developed such anxiety since then, I never thought I would be able to sit in a restaurant again. I had a mortal fear of breaking chairs in public. It was really affecting my life as I couldn’t go out much at all.

"At first I was terrified about the trip for surgery, I was even still scared about the aeroplane but the results speak for themselves. I haven’t touched a chocolate biscuit in months, and I don’t intend to start anytime soon. ‘I finally feel beautiful.’’

Caroline, who said she was “bigger” since her schooldays, noticed weight creeping up in July 2017 after regular binges on sweets treats, including chocolate biscuits, sponge cake and ice cream.

Every dinner would be large portions of pasta and ‘double portions’ of chicken stir fry with lots of noodles. As she grew bigger, her fear of chairs developed, coming to a head when her boss asked if she wanted a special chair because of her weight.

Her phobia became so serious that she was barely being social and leaving the house and in August 2021 she knew she needed to make a change.

The mum-of-three made the decision to get private gastric sleeve surgery after waiting on the NHS list for over two years. She booked the treatment on January 18, 2022 and paid £3,040 out of her savings - including both the surgery and flights to Istanbul.

She said: "My family were hesitant about my decision, but I knew I couldn’t continue to live how I had been, in fear of chairs. So I tried my best to research what I could by looking online. I was nervous due to the horror stories I had heard online but thankfully I had my husband with me to calm my nerves."

On May 22, Caroline travelled with her husband, and reached the medicine hospital. After a two-hour long surgery, during which the doctors removed a large portion of her stomach to make it smaller.

As she returned home, she immediately removed junk food from her life. For the next week, Caroline was only allowed to consume fluids due to the surgery and then gradually worked up to solid foods again over a few months.

In just nine months, she went from 24st to 14st and has finally been able to start going to restaurants again. In March 2022, Caroline started working out with a personal trainer and now attends the gym three nights a week.

She said: “I used to need an inhaler but I haven’t used it in months. My anxiety has reduced drastically and I’ve never felt better. I started this journey avoiding specific restaurants just because of the chairs. But now I can return to those restaurants and happily sit down without fear."