Obese Soccer Fan Loses 83lbs After He Couldn’t Fit Through Stadium Turnstile.

When you’re severely overweight, life presents more unexpected challenges than usual.

Maybe it’s squeezing yourself into an airplane seat, or perhaps you politely decline riding on an amusement park ride because you know you won’t fit. There are many examples of how the world just isn’t set up to accommodate someone of a larger stature.

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For Tim Hickman, a twenty-three year old from Darlington, England, the moment when his weight got in the way of his fun-loving lifestyle came about a year ago, as he was trying to enter a soccer game with his friends.

Tim is a devoted fan of the Darlington Football Club, often attending the games with a big group of his friends. Last January, as he approached the turnstile at Edgely Park in Stockport, Tim realized he was too large to fit through.

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“It had happened at other grounds when I’d got stuck in the turnstiles so when I saw them I thought ‘there’s no way I can fit through there’ and asked if I could use the gate instead,” Tim said. “It’s embarrassing having to go through a big gate like that and having to ask them to open it. You laugh it off but it’s a bit tragic really.”

When a friend snapped a picture of Tim walking through the gate instead of using the turnstile, he had an epiphany.  He knew it was time to get serious about his health.

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At 321 pounds, Tim admits that his diet used to be terrible. He ate a lot of takeout, went out drinking too often, and consumed about 4,000 calories a day. In spite of his young age, he started having chest pains, leading him to wonder if he was doomed to die prematurely.

“I’d just been getting bigger and bigger. I’ve always been a big lad but it got to the point where I was just getting bigger and I was thinking ‘how long am I going to live?'”

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A few months after the turnstile incident, Tim buckled down and started setting small goals for himself. He started eating right, cooking more meals at home, and doing cardio at the gym three times a week. One big goal of his was to go back to the stadium at their next game and conquer the dreaded turnstile.

“I was looking at the football fixtures and saw we were playing Stockport again in April. It was spur of the moment but I thought ‘let’s do something.’ That became my aim – to be able to get through the turnstile. I wanted to give it a go.”

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Ten months later, Tim dropped an astounding 83 pounds, and he’s not finished yet. He hopes to lose even more weight slowly, though a healthy diet and exercise.

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When the day of the big game arrived, Tim’s friends entered the stadium ahead of him, and his friend Charlotte pulled out her phone to take a video of Tim’s big moment. He admits that he approached the gate warily, hoping for the best. “I was nervous when I got there,” he said. “I was thinking ‘please don’t let me get stuck.’ It would have been so embarrassing.”

But Tim didn’t get stuck. In fact, he sailed right through!

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His friends cheered raucously as he burst through the turnstile, before beginning the hilarious chant, “He used to be obese but he’s just fat now!”

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Tim enjoyed this game more than any other, and it seems his new healthy lifestyle is here to stay. “I feel much more confident now. I’m getting out and walking to the football ground rather than taking the bus,” he stated.

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Way to go, Tim! This just goes to show that you never know when you’re going to have that life-changing moment.

Watch Tim’s successful trip through the turnstile below, and be sure to share this story to encourage good health and a healthy lifestyle for everyone you know.