BEFORE she flew to Turkey in 2021 for a £3,500 gastric bypass op, at her heaviest mum Michelle Humphreys genuinely feared for her life.
Not only was her health suffering as a direct result of her size and weight – she was 18st 7lb and a size 22 – but also she was born and bred in the town where women have the lowest life expectancy in the UK.
Shockingly, women in Brynmawr, South East Wales, on average aren’t expected to reach 79.
That’s four years lower than the life expectancy across England, which is now 83 for women, Office for National Statistics data shows.
Not long ago it was a thriving market town where people reaped the benefits of hard work and a close community where neighbours looked out for each other.
But today the town looks almost derelict. Hotels and pubs have shut down and shops have been replaced by takeaways.
Some locals say the town has been “abandoned” and people have “lost hope”.
Life expectancy for women in Blaenau Gwent, where Brynmawr stands, is 78.9 years, the ONS says.
A range of factors have contributed to this depressing statistic – from obesity and lack of exercise, to the use of hard drugs and heavy smoking.
It’s a socially deprived area where people can’t see a way out. There’s a lot of despondency in the Welsh valleys due to the closure of big industry – coal and steel – and a lack of jobs to take its place.
People die before their time here, it’s sad to see but they don’t look after themselves. No one has their five-a-day.
Denise Brain
Just 35 miles away in Hereford, women can expect to live 83.6 years – almost a five-year difference.
“Perhaps I’ll move to Hereford then,” says Denise Brain, 58, who is still recovering from open heart surgery.
“People die before their time here, it’s sad to see but they don’t look after themselves. No one has their five-a-day.”
Three takeaways a day
One takeaway in the area reported that it regularly delivers three meals a day to the same household.
And some locals were shocked to see a mum arriving at Greggs every morning by council-paid taxi to give her children their breakfast before school.
Four out of five people are overweight or obese in the county.
It’s such a problem, a special weight management clinic has been set up to tackle the obesity epidemic.
‘Turkey weight-loss op saved my life’
As a result of the issue, ‘hundreds’ of women here have reportedly desperately tried to increase their lifespans – by flying to Turkey to have gastric bypass ops.
Michelle Humphreys, 58, runs a dressmakers and haberdashery in the town square where she spends a lot of her working life altering clothes to fit ever-growing female customers.
She can empathise with those struggling, as not long ago the mum-of-three was 18st 11lb and a dress size 22.
Michelle said: “I put it on over the years but to me I never seemed to eat that much.
“It was my metabolism, sometimes the only thing I would eat all day is cornflakes, but I would have takeaways at weekends, a pizza or a Chinese.
“I didn’t realise how unwell I was until I got to Turkey and the doctors
carried out tests which showed I was diabetic.”
Michelle heard about a friend who had travelled to Turkey for the weight loss op and went on to the internet to investigate.
Husband Darryl, a council bin man, backed her and Michelle drew £3,500 from their savings to catch a flight.
She says: “It saved my life. I wouldn’t be here now if I hadn’t had the gastric bypass.
“I witness the obesity crisis here every day – women come into the shop suffering from health problems due to their size.
“A lot of large women come in to have their clothing altered.
“There’s nothing around here to help people, they closed the leisure centre down and you can’t get a doctor’s appointment.
“What we do have is lots of takeaways – there are 12 here already and we are about to get two more, including a Burger King.
“I had dangerously high blood pressure before I went and then the medical team out there found I had Type II diabetes.
“When the surgeon was operating he found a lesion on my liver, he removed that for free.”
A new lease of life
Non-smoker Michelle said she has a new lease of life after returning to Brynmawr and now hopes she’s significantly increased her life expectancy.
She explains: “Before I went I couldn’t walk 100 yards, but a week after coming back I did seven miles.
“I’ve dropped 8st 9lbs. I’m now 10st 2lbs and a size 12, and feel like a new woman.
“I actually eat more now than I did before the operation and I’ve changed my lifestyle because I don’t want to get to that size again.
“I can name at least 30 women from these parts who have been to Turkey for gastric surgery. There must be hundreds across Blaenau Gwent.”
‘We’ve been abandoned’
Michelle says she hates living in her home town Brynmawr and finds it depressing’.
She and Darryl, 57, have a three-bedroom flat above the shop which they bought for £125,000 three years ago.
On a tea break from her Stitch-in-Time shop, grandmother-of-seven Michelle said: “Unless you want a takeaway or a haircut there’s nothing here.
“I was brought up in the town and I’ve watched it slowly die.
“We have been abandoned, people have lost hope.
“It’s not surprising people die young here. There’s not much to live for.”
‘It’s only going to get worse’
NHS community nurse Rebecca Somers, 32, says she deals with the town’s obesity crisis every working day, and she too was once a statistic.
She said: “I was 18-and-a-half-stone, a size 18 and I tried every diet going and nothing worked.
“People might say I took the easy way out but I went to Turkey for a gastric by-pass procedure.
“It cost me £3,500 and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done, I wish I’d done it sooner.
“By going down that route I’ve probably saved the NHS a lot more on what it would cost to treat me for all the conditions that go with being obese.
“But not everyone can afford it and while people fill up on takeaways every day the situation is only going to get worse.”
‘It’s cheaper to live off takeaways’
In 2018, a survey found that 55 of the 75 restaurants in Blaenau Gwent are fast food outlets, the highest proportion of any council area in England, Scotland, and Wales.
That figure is believed to have gone even higher as families rely on burgers, kebabs and pizza rather than cook healthy meals for themselves.
Stuart Lewis, 62, runs the Fresh and Fruity, the only greengrocer in the town.
He says: “People should be changing their diets but it’s easier and cheaper to live off takeaways.
“There aren’t many people in Brynmawr getting their five-a day.”
‘It’s not surprising’
It’s not just the issue of obesity seemingly blighting the town.
Michelle also believes suicide is an issue, especially among young adult males who have been sucked into the drug culture because of a lack of employment opportunities.
At one point Blaenau Gwent had the highest suicide rate among men in Wales.
The landmark Griffin Hotel which stands in the town’s square closed its doors years ago and was recently raided by Gwent Police, who found a thriving cannabis plantation inside.
Others blame Blaenau Gwent’s struggling economy for coming top of the mortality league for both women and men.
The giant steelworks in Ebbw Vale which once employed 14,000 people has long closed down and nothing has replaced it.
Those that are in work are typically paid £64 a week less than people doing the same job across the UK.
Jobless Mike Jones, 53, said: “It’s not surprising people don’t reach a great age around here because there’s no sense of purpose.
“It’s not just diet, smoking and a poor lifestyle, it’s having a reason to get up in the morning.
“Do you remember Yosser Hughes from the TV, there’s plenty of them around here.
“My dad died at 65, my mum went on a bit longer, she was 76, they both smoked and never exercised or anything like that.
“My mum had COPD and was on oxygen for the last few years of her life. Then she died of a heart attack.”
All the ways obesity can kill
Being overweight doesn’t automatically kill you.
But carrying excess fat is associated with lots of health problems.
Firstly, there’s heart disease.
Extra body fat can lead to high blood pressure and cholesterol, raising the chances of heart attacks.
Then we have type 2 diabetes.
Carrying excess weight makes your body resistant to insulin, resulting in high blood sugar levels and complications like kidney failure.
Obesity is also linked to 13 different cancers, which include:
- Adenocarcinoma of the esophagus
- Breast cancer in postmenopausal women
- Colon and rectum cancer
- Uterus cancer
- Gallbladder cancer
- Upper stomach cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Liver cancer
- Ovaries cancer
- Pancreas cancer
- Thyroid cancer
- Meningioma, a type of brain cancer
- Multiple myeloma
Sleep apnea, which disrupts breathing during sleep and can make people snore, is another risk.
Not being able to breathe properly can lead to a sudden drop in oxygen levels, which can be bad for the heart.
Being obese can also impact mental health, often leading to depression and anxiety due to stigma and discrimination.
Healthcare ‘failings’
It’s tragically ironic that fatal health conditions are taking their toll on the people of Blaenau Gwent because Nye Bevan, the founder of the NHS, was born there.
Locals say he would be turning in his grave if he saw the collapse of the NHS and how it has affected the communities of South Wales.
One young mum, who didn’t want to be named, said: “I rang the local surgery for an appointment for my little girl this morning and they’ve got nothing until the end of December.
“That’s six weeks away. If you say she needs to be seen sooner they tell you to take her to A&E, but that can be a ten-hour wait.
“It’s disgusting, there’s no wonder people are dying before their time here, you can’t get medical help.”
Businesswoman Lisa Skinner, 53, who runs a trophy and greeting card shop in Brynmawr said: “If you phone for an appointment you can queue for ever. Sometimes you just give up.
“I don’t blame the surgery, there’s just one doctor and one receptionist. They can’t cope. I needed vital tablets and I had to wait for two days to get a prescription.
“I’m sure people are dying because of the failings of the health service here. The whole town is suffering.
“So many people are overweight, I’m as bad. I love chocolates too much.”
‘There are too many people on benefits’
Mum-of-two and grandmother Samantha Jones, 63, believes the problem stems from a lack of career opportunities.
She says: “Younger women in the town don’t look after themselves – there are too many people on benefits who are not encouraged to work.
“It’s not good for their mental health, they don’t realise that work is good for the mind and the soul. That’s how it used to be around here.
“They should cut benefits and get people back to work.
“But there’s nothing around here for families, I wouldn’t want to bring a child into the world here – and it’s getting worse.”
Prof Tracy Daszkiewicz, Director of Public Health for Gwent, said: “Women’s health in Gwent is a key priority for us.
“We are working to ensure that everyone across Gwent can live in good health for as long as possible.
“We will also align our approach to the new national strategy ‘A Healthier Wales for Women and Girls’.”
Blaenau Gwent Council were also contacted for comment.
