Checkout Plus-size Model Sheds 17 STONE After 70-inch Hips Meant She Couldn't Fit in Single Aeroplane Seat

Rosie Mercado was left in tears in airport departures and decided that it was time to make a lasting change to her weight.

The seats on the aeroplane were too small for Rosie Mercado, so she had to buy twoA plus-size model has unveiled her astonishing transformation after shedding more than 17-stone to strut down the catwalk.

Rosie Mercado was tipping the scales at 29st 2lbs in 2011 with hips measuring 70ins when she had a deeply humiliating experience at an airport.

"I was in line to board and this guy runs up to me and said, 'You need to buy a second seat because you don't fit in one,'" the 36-year old told Today.

"In front of everyone. I was so embarrassed. You could hear it — some people were like, 'Oh my God, how rude.' Others just laughed. I just started crying. I went to the counter and quietly paid what I had to pay."

The single mum-of-three, who was a US dress size 36 - a UK 40 - decided to take steps to change her life and, thanks to a weight loss diet and exercise, she lost 7st 1lb.

Then she had a gastric sleeve fitted, in which a small stomach "sleeve” was created using a stapling device and the rest of the stomach was removed.

Although Rosie says the surgery made her life difficult, it was worth it, and has seen her drop to a US size 12/14 - around a 16/18 in the UK.
"You have to deal with being low-calorie, and deal with the adjustment to your body as you're dropping weight," she told people, adding that: "Anything that bloats just completely went away," even a fizzy drink or rice making her terribly ill.

After she shed the weight, she underwent more surgery to remove 20lbs of excess skin - and is now a happy and healthy 12st 1lb.

The successful model signed with True Model Management in April 2014 and has featured in campaigns for plus-size fashion igigi.com and Ibbi World.

She says she's come a long way and she's happy with her results: "There's no goal for me to be a size six [UK size 10]. I just want to be healthy and fit. Being obese is putting your life at risk every single day."

"I loved me then but I love me more now, yes I said it I love me more now because of the freedom I have and new discoveries in my life."