SATURDAY PEOPLE

Arriving home from school before her mother got in, the 15-year-old would cook chips and then pop the pan in the fridge to cool the fat down and harden it to cover her tracks.

"I don't know how I didn't melt the fridge," she said.

Since she lost 14st she has also decided to lose the last two letters of her name.

"Sally sounds as if you could walk all over her," she explained. "Sal sounds like she means business."

She used to say she was "anorexic in reverse".

A compulsive eater, she would spend her money on pop, crisps and chocolate -- not one packet or bar, but several in a day.

"Crisps were one of my downfalls. I would hide them in a bush in the drive and rescue them later.

"People with eating disorders are very secretive about it. It is probably one of the worst illnesses. I have always felt that compulsive eating does not get the attention it needs," she said.

Sal, now 48, can't put her finger on why she started eating so much, but knows it began about 30 years before she had her stomach stapled on the NHS by a surgeon at Blackburn Infirmary in October 1998. Born in Yorkshire, she and her family moved to Leicestershire when she was five weeks old. They moved to Lincoln when she was 11 and she managed to control her weight in her teens, despite binge eating because she was playing hockey and swimming.

She had "stupid ideas" of working in a crisp or chocolate factory but her heart was set on being a police officer and she became a cadet at the Wakefield police headquarters in West Yorkshire. Still her weight was under control because she continued to play hockey, turning out a few times for the West Yorkshire Police women's hockey team.

But her chosen career did not work out and she left the force when she was 21, taking up jobs in the library service and in children's homes. Her addiction to food continued to grow and after a failed attempt to get stomach-stapling surgery in Leeds 10 years ago -- she also had a drink problem for eight years and is an alcoholic -- Sal sought help from GPs after moving to Blackburn.

One told her: "They don't do it for people like you." Hurt and upset -- and not sure what he meant -- she felt the doctor had signed her death warrant. But a more sympathetic doctor took up her case and referred her to Robert Watson, consultant general surgeon at Blackburn Infirmary, who agreed to operate.

She waited for almost a year for the news that was to change her life -- Mr Watson would be operating, and would Sal mind if other surgeons watched? She did not mind at all -- she would be out for the count, her operation would not be cancelled with other surgeons present and they would make sure nothing went wrong.

"My surgeon was the only one in the North West doing this operation and there were 40 surgeons watching, although I didn't find that out until afterwards," she said. "My stomach was stapled vertically and I was in hospital for 11 days.

"For the first two or three days I had nothing, then tiny sips of water and, then until I left hospital, I had soups and ice cream. I was quickly full. In the beginning you have to be very careful. Now if I eat too fast, or eat and drink at the same time, I am sick. It does have its drawbacks and I get heartburn now but that is a minor inconvenience."

On returning to her flat in the Larkhill area of Blackburn, Sal discovered that her housekeeping bill went down considerably, as did her weight.

"I have had to learn to throw things away but I am getting better," she said. "And I have had to learn not to eat quickly.

"I still binge and I still haven't got the eating disorder under control. I will have a few packets of crisps but nothing like it used to be. The other thing about bingeing is that now I have to decide which is most important, a binge or a meal."

Since her operation Sal has had a "tummy tuck" and a "boob job" to tighten up the loose flaps of skin left as a result of her major slimdown. Some people have accused her of having "cosmetic" surgery but, although she is frightened of pain, she did not want to be left looking like the Elephant Man. She said: "I have lost over half of my life by being overweight. Overweight people do get verbal abuse. I don't know why people think they have a right to do it. It used to destroy me when people shouted at me in the street. If you are anorexic you can hide to an extent. If you are overweight it is there for everyone to see."

Although she suffers from arthritis and does not have the confidence to take up a job, Sal is studying for an Open University degree in "Understanding Health and Social Care" and would be prepared to speak to medical professionals and people considering having the operation done themselves.

An avid collector of china, cuddly and toy frogs, she has yet to meet her handsome prince.

She said: "If you need this surgery it is available, although you may have to fight for it. It has turned my life around and I am quite happy with life at the moment."

The Eating Disorders Association has a helpline (01603 621414) open from 9am to 6.30pm weekdays. Staffed by people with vast experience of eating disorders, it is open to people with eating problems, their families and friends.