A Zumbathon will be held in Sarisbury Green tomorrow (March 16) to help an obesity awareness charity.
Samina Zumba has organised the two-hour long event at the Sarisbury Green Community Centre to raise cash for a new foundation called Battle on Obesity (BOO) to tackle the over-eating disease.
BOO is the brainchild of Bethany Churcher who, at eight years of age, was diagnosed with Compulsive Eating Disorder and has since had to undergo major surgery as a result of the weight increase.
Bethany after losing more than 12 stone and planning to lose another five.
Bullied at school and weighing 32 stone before having a gastric bypass operation last February, Bethany knew she had to battle the disease head on – despite always having the desire to over-eat.
“It was a mental disorder,” said Bethany, aged 19. “I ate healthy food but I had too much of it. I’d sneak food away from my parents. People get addicted to drugs and alcohol, but I was addicted to food.
“When I ate it, it made me have that high, but then afterwards it would give me the lows. I was in a battle with myself.
“I got bullied at school. Nobody understood apart from my parents. Hopefully with this charity I can help educate people further.
“I want to help young people to not have to go as far as me and have major surgery.
“Everything in my life I had to plan around being overweight. I don’t think it should be like that for people.”
Bethany has lost more than 12 stone in weight and 80 inches of fat off her body in one year. She has gone down eight dress sizes from her size 32 clothes last year. She now weighs 19 stone, but still plans to lose more to weight to to get under 14 stone.
As a result of the disorder, she had her gall bladder removed and was diagnosed with Intra-Cranial Hypertension, a condition where the spinal fluid builds up around the brain, eventually causing blindness. She has had 18 lumber punctures to drain the fluid and once she has recovered more she plans to do more exercise to help with the weight loss.
Bethany, who lives in Eastleigh, needs to raise £5,000 to get the foundation official charity status, then hopes to educate school children and create a helpline.
Bethany before she lost her weight
“It means everything to me,” she added. “A lot of people just think about anorexia and bulimia, they don’t realise there are eating disorders at the other end of the spectrum.
“I’ve had this idea for years but I’ve never had the confidence to put it in motion. It’s sad that I’ve gone through this and I’ve had such severe depression.”
Tina Smith, one of the owners of Zumbina who has helped organise tomorrow’s event as a friend of Bethany’s family, said: “It’s been hard for her so she wanted to help other people. The charity is going to help other people, especially the younger generation, understand obesity. Some people can’t help it, it’s a condition.”
Anyone is welcome to attend the event from 2pm to 4pm. The cost is £5 for one hour or £8 for two – with all funds to go to the charity.