MONICA Swift might be just a shadow of her former self... but she's absolutely delighted!

For years, Monica was so overweight she could only get about with the aid of a walking stick. But boy has she changed and the other week, she threw away that stick and strode down the catwalk as one of the top models in a Slimming World fashion show - at the age of 66!

And Monica's achievements were made even more astonishing when she

confessed to the Star that, three years ago, she didn't even have the confidence to go outside the house because of her size.

Monica, who now weighs in at at a trim 9st 4Ib and has kept her size-14 figure for 18 months, lives in Elizabeth Road, Haydock, and has been attending classes at her local Slimming World centre for two-and-a-half years.

She told the Star: "I used to be a comfort eater and the fact that my husband Billy was a former restaurant manager at Helena House certainly didn't help.

"I wasn't interested when I first read about Slimming World because I'd tried every other method of losing weight but nothing had worked. Then my doctor told me to give it a try for a few weeks because my size was just making me ill. I couldn't walk without a stick and I was also suffering from weekly angina attacks, so it was worry about my health that made me determined to give it a go."

Now almost three years on, Monica's remarkable willpower has helped her to shed more than six-stone and gained loads of confidence in the process.

"At one stage I was losing 2Ib every week. I used to be a size 28 and I had no confidence in myself at all; even things like travelling on buses used to intimidate me. But now I feel as if I could do anything, even fashion shows."

Monica's health has improved in leaps and bounds as well. "Since I lost the weight I have only had one minor angina attack and I don't even need to use my walking stick anymore."

To mark her amazing success story, Monica was asked to take part in the charity fashion show held to raise money for the Marie Curie Cancer fund.

"It was brilliant. I had a fabulous time and I wasn't a bit self-conscious. I am living proof that life doesn't finish when you become a pensioner."

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