A young woman has spoken out about how she shed more than half her body weight after undergoing a life-saving gastric sleeve surgery in her early teens.
Ashlee Young, from Queensland, tipped the scales at a staggering 105kg at the age of 14.
As her health deteriorated, Ashlee who struggled to run 100m said she turned to the weight loss procedure in a desperate attempt to tackle obesity.
Growing up, Ashlee said she was also a target for bullies who relentlessly teased her about her appearance and size.
Speaking to A Current Affair, the now-18-year-old now looks unrecognisable after she dramatically lost more than 50kg.
Ashlee Young was just 14 (left) when she tipped the scales at a staggering 105kg. She shed half her body weight after undergoing a life-saving gastric sleeve surgery in her early teens
The then-14-year-old dramatically lost more than 50kg after she under the procedure
‘It’s like having a new life, being a new person,’ Ashlee said.
She’s one of many young patients of renowned surgeon Dr George Hopkins, who’s now calling for gastric sleeve surgery to be performed on morbidly obese children.
Despite one in four Australian kids being either obese or overweight, children’s hospital won’t allow the procedure to be carried out due to medical restrictions.
In a bid to combat the child obesity crisis, Dr Hopkins – who has performed the surgery on children as young as 12 – said the procedure would save them from a lifetime of severe health problems.
‘Pre-teens are almost being left out of the conversation because the health system hasn’t caught up with this problem yet,’ he told the Channel Nine program.
Growing up, Ashlee said she was also a target for cruel bullies who relentlessly teased her about her appearance and size
The now-18-year-old now looks unrecognisable after she dramatically lost more than 50kg
Dr Hopkins has performed the surgery on adults for decades, but he has since noticed an increasing number of children struggling with their weight.
‘Obesity is the number one cause of schoolyard bullying,’ he said, revealing that he has met eight-year-old kids weighing more than 120kg.
‘These kids are sick… If you’ve got 130kg 15-year-old, all the evidence would suggest that child or adolescent will get heavier, will get sicker, and get more miserable.’
He said the results after performing on his young patients are proof that if you operate early, the procedure would prevent them from suffering severe health problems in their adulthood.
Dr Hopkins vowed to keep pushing for hospitals to allow children access to the radical weight loss surgery.
‘I just can’t believe we can have a very reasonable treatment option that we know works and say, “Well, that’s not for you, based on your age”,’ he said.