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Bright future for nursing student who lost 8st

14/01/2019

Shedding an incredible eight stone has transformed life for a University of Wolverhampton student, who is now on track to follow her dream to become a nurse.

Claire Wills, from Stourbridge, says losing weight with Slimming World gave her a renewed confidence to pursue her long-held career aspirations.

Claire-Wills-after

The 30-year-old is currently studying a BNurs (Hons) Adult Nursing at the University of Wolverhampton.

Three years ago, mum-of-one Claire was 21st 11.5lbs and a size 26, and her dream was to follow in her mum’s footsteps and become a nurse. But she says she had never had the courage to apply to complete the training, and couldn’t imagine talking to patients about healthy living.

Claire-Wills-before

The final straw came during a family holiday in October 2014 when Claire found she couldn’t play on the beach with her son Albert without getting out of breath. She decided to join a gym. After seven months, her fitness had improved but not her weight, so she joined Jo Wassell’s Stourbridge Slimming World group.

She lost an incredible 8st 12lbs, and finally felt able to follow her long-held dream of becoming a nurse.

Claire, who now weighs 12st 13.5lbs, says: “I found Slimming World and lost an incredible amount of weight. In promoting my own health, I became very invested in promoting other people’s health and becoming an advocate for people who couldn’t speak up for themselves and didn’t know what path to take.

“I would not have been at the University if it wasn’t for that – it’s the best thing that has ever happened. I’d always wanted to be a nurse, ever since I was young. Coming back as a mature student and having that life experience and going through everything I’ve been through I’m better prepared for the rigours of a degree course, especially over the last few years with everything I have learnt about myself.

“Getting an adult nursing degree is the start of a journey of lifelong learning. You never stop learning – that is all you do. You grow, reflect and change every single day. It excites me that I don’t know exactly where I will end up with enough hard work!”

For more information about studying nursing, visit: www.wlv.ac.uk/nursing or come along to the next University of Wolverhampton Open Day on Saturday, 2 February 2019: www.wlv.ac.uk/opendays

Read more about Claire’s journey in the January/February issue of Slimming World Magazine, which is on sale in Slimming World groups and on the newsstand now.

Further information

Picture credit: Slimming World Magazine/Angela Spain 

For more information please contact the Media Relations Office on 01902 32 2736 or 01902 518647.

Date Issued: Monday, 14 January 2019

For more information please contact the Corporate Communications Team.

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