“I weigh 80 pounds and I’m afraid I’ll die waiting for weight loss surgery.”

Preston’s Laura Davies, 38, is too tall to fit in her own bathtub and after missing out on weight-loss surgery, she’s now afraid she’ll die waiting for it

A 35th woman who can’t fit in her bathtub worries she will die while awaiting weight-loss surgery.

Laura Davies can barely walk due to her huge stature and relies on her mother and 16-year-old daughter to help and look after her around the house.

The 38-year-old from Preston said she had always been tall, but after starting a new drug, she put on the pounds and went from a size 22 to a size 32 in four years.

Laura admits she eats chips and chocolate and often picks up her kids’ seats, and doctors have warned her if she doesn’t manage her weight, she could die young. LancsLive reports.

But she’s afraid she might die while waiting for a gastric bypass, so she’s trying to raise £5,000 to go abroad for the operation.

The mother-of-three had previously dropped eight pounds while preparing for surgery in 2019.

However, after it was cancelled, she repackaged the weight and all future surgeries have been put on hold due to Covid.

Now the distraught mother has launched a fundraiser in hopes of flying to Turkey for private surgery.

Laura said: “It’s a vicious circle, I feel depressed so I eat more to keep myself from feeling depressed so I gain weight.

“I don’t eat much, but I eat the wrong things. I have three children and I pick up their plates after I’ve finished my tea and eaten chips and chocolate.

“I just have no confidence at all, the person I am now is not the person I was a few years ago. My mother is my caregiver and my daughter has to help me with the work.

“I need a shower seat and I can’t bathe because it’s an eco-bathtub and I can’t fit in it. Even buy clothes [is an issue]before I could grab anything.

“Even though I was tall, size 22, I could buy something from Asda, but now I have to go to special stores and it’s not cheap.

“I’ve had enough now. I don’t want to leave my children and my doctor said if you don’t do something you will end up dying young. It’s embarrassing to have to ask for money, but I have to be there for my girls.

“I have to try everything to get that. I’m terrified of being one of those people who’s stuck in the house, but I’m also so embarrassed.”

Laura said she would never be skinny, just be healthy and be able to play with her kids again instead of just watching on the sidelines.

In 2019, Laura was listed for a gastric bypass and lost 3.5 stones in preparation, but she regained the weight when the surgery was called off.

Tragically, Laura doesn’t think her body could survive if she has to wait another four years.

Laura said: “I’ve lost a lot of weight in the past. I’ve always been tall, but even when I was 18, I went to the gym three or four times a week.

“When I started gaining weight, I did Aqua Zumba and tried to lose weight, but it was just an uphill battle.

“I had a fitness plan from a PT. I went and was so overweight but I had some fitness and now because I put the 10 stone on it it’s so much harder.

“I can barely run. I was told to lose 5 percent of my body weight and maintain it.

“I’ve been referred to the NHS, you have to get educated on how to eat right, then you go to a psychologist and nutritionist. I’m on medication and the doctor said I needed to be stable for six months.”

However, because her dosage was increased and changed, she was deemed “unstable” so she was unable to have the surgery and had to wait six months before applying again.

Then Covid delayed any possible surgery for another eight months and she had to start the daunting process all over again.

Laura was forced to quit her job as a cleaner and her master’s degree in criminology because her weight was affecting her health. But she hopes to be able to return to education and work after the operation.

Laura said: “[Having the op means] I’ll be more of a hands-on mother, able to play with the kids and go back to work.

“It will give me some life back before I’m too old to enjoy it. I’d like to go to work, but I couldn’t be up for nine hours [now].”

You can donate to Laura’s site here .

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Trust have been asked for comment.