Phil's Story

“I realised it was time to save my own life,” says lifeguard trainer Phil

Phil, before weight loss surgeryGrowing up in Rhyl, North Wales, Phil was happy, fit and active.

He was a competitive swimmer, represented North Wales and became a 100m breast stroke champion in Rhyl at the age of 12.

After school he became a lifeguard, joined the Royal Life Saving Society and started to teach life saving skills to others.

A brief stint running a pub in his early 20s had a detrimental effect on his health, however.

Phil, post weight loss surgery“That’s when it all started to go pear-shaped,” says Phil, now 47. “When it came to food, you had to grab what you could when you could. The weight just started to pile on.”

Over the next 20 or so years, Phil continued to put his swimming and lifesaving skills to good use, however.

After leaving the pub, he worked for various organisations – including a leisure firm and a local council - as a lifeguard and swimming pool supervisor, teaching adults and children to swim as well as training other lifeguards.

Then fourteen years ago he became a health and fitness instructor at a hospital for people with mental health problems, a post he still holds today, working as a lifeguard, trainer/assessor and first responder. 

But - despite spending so much time in and around the water - Phil’s battle against obesity continued. Although he lost some weight when he started swimming again, the pounds soon started to creep back on.

The larger he became, the more his confidence waned. At his heaviest, he weighed 23st 9lbs and had a body mass index (BMI) of 47.4.

“People at the hospital would make sarcastic comments when I gave them their exercise regimes,” says Phil. “They’d say YOU’RE telling US to do that! And I’d say ‘I have got like this by NOT exercising - this is what happens’!

“But the truth is I couldn’t exercise. Everything would hurt when I went on the treadmill.”

The bigger he got, the harder Phil found it to join in activities with his teenage sons Pip and Sean. “My boys are really sporty but I couldn’t do anything with them,” he says.

“I couldn’t go on fairground rides or play football. I even had to start a football team for them because I couldn’t play myself.

“Visiting family became awkward too. We have a family home in Salgar in Menorca. Spending time there with family and friends is a massive part of my life but I’d dread the flight.

 “It was embarrassing when the stewardess would bring me a child’s seat belt to add onto the adult one so it would reach around me. And I could never get the food tray down.”

Once in Menorca, Phil could never go on the jet skis or inflatable banana boats with his boys. “I just couldn’t get back on if I fell off,” he says.

Phil’s weight was taking its toll on his health, too. “I had high blood pressure and high cholesterol,” he says. “I was suffering from depression. I was on constant medication. It desperately got me down.

“I was forever battling my weight but getting nowhere. I took an anti-obesity drug which made me feel terrible. I went to a weight management clinic for 3½ years. If it hadn’t been for the incredible support of my wife Vicky and the rest of the family I wouldn’t have gone.  But I knew I had to.”

Finding out that he had Type 2 diabetes really shocked Phil though.

“When I got the letter from my GP I thought my life’s got to change or I will die. It was as if a little light had gone on in my head.”

Phil went back to see his GP. “I told the GP I needed help. He said he would refer me for weight loss surgery.”

Phil subsequently underwent a duodenal switch procedure at the Spire Murrayfield in November last year. The operation was performed by Mr Shafiq Javed of weight loss specialists Gravitas, which have nine clinics nationwide.

“The Gravitas team is out of this world,” says Phil. “The nurse was brilliant and stayed with me the whole time. The anaesthetist was stunning. I felt so well after the op that after a few hours in recovery I walked back to my room. The staff shook their heads in disbelief.”

Within a couple of weeks Phil was driving again and back at work shortly afterwards.

“They say surgery should be a last resort but for me it’s been fantastic,” says Phil, who now weighs 12st 2lbs and has a BMI of 26.3.

“My diabetes has gone, my blood pressure is normal and I hardly have to take any medication. I can’t thank the NHS enough. If I had the opportunity, I would give up work and go round telling everyone how wonderful the Gravitas team has been.”

Before surgery, Phil admits he drank lots of beer and wine and ate large portions of 'anything and everything'.

“I still eat anything and everything but just smaller amounts,” he says. “I love to sit down to a small plate of tapas and a glass of wine.

“Life now is amazing. Since losing over 11 stone, I have a far better standard of life. In fact, I’ve had some of the best times of my life in Menorca with my family and many friends. I can get around better in the heat of the fabulous sunshine and swim in the sea – it’s become my island of dreams!

“I really live life to the full now. As a health and fitness instructor and lifeguard, it’s your job to save lives. But I realised the time had come to save my own. These days, when the bleep goes I’m up there with the rest of the first responders.

“There was a time when I found it hard to even push myself out of the pool without using the steps. If I ran, I’d be out of breath, seeing stars.

“But this is like a miracle. It reminds me a bit of the old fairy tale, when someone kisses Sleeping Beauty and she comes alive. That’s what the surgery feels like.”

Acknowledgments

Phil would like to thank and acknowledge all those who helped and supported him on his ‘weight loss journey’, including staff at Knowsley Borough Council and The Royal Life Saving Society, his current work colleagues and members of Maghull Cricket Club, where he worked on the grounds while recovering from his op, cooked the Friday night BBQs for juniors and played cricket in the same team as his son. 

Particularly heart-felt thanks however go to his family, including his wife Vicky, sons Pip and Sean, his mum, his in-laws Neil and Val, Rob, Joey and the girls. “Vicky was there behind me all the way, as were the whole family,” says Phil. “I love them all so much and could not have done it without them – I thank them all.”  

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