British couple escaped Tunisia terrorist DEATH 'because of slimmer waists'
Lee and Anne Turnock fled the ISIS terrorist on a Tunisian beach last year. It was an attack that claimed the lives of 38 innocent people sunbathing on a beach - 30 of those were British.
Brits abroad Lee and Anne have claimed they were only able to get to safety because they had lost weight before their holiday.
The pair, from Staffs, were both clinically obese before they started dieting back in May.
Paramedic Anne, 28, tipped the scales at 19st 4lb, and struggled to squeeze into a size 24 dress - while husband Lee weighed almost 19st and needed an XXL t shirt.
Lee, 29, has spoken out about the scary experience, and is a firm believer in his weight loss having saved his life.
He said: "It was an absolutely horrific experience and not one I'd want to repeat. I have never been so scared in my life.
"There's no doubt that if we'd both been packing the extra pounds we would have struggled to run as fast as we did. We were only a few metres from the beach where the terrorist was shooting.
"I'd never run up five flights of stairs before and I didn't even know I could."
He added: "Any time I felt like giving in, I just thought back to running up those stairs and knew I should stick at it."
Anne said: "It was only the third day of our holiday and I wanted to go and sunbathe on the beach, but Lee had a blister on his foot and didn't want to get sand in it, so we stayed by the pool.
"I'd been reading my kindle and had just leant down to put it away when I heard banging. I didn't really think anything of it at first, I thought it was fireworks. but it kept coming.
"I turned round and saw a woman behind me dive under her deckchair, and saw people running from the beach. Lee just looked at me, grabbed my hand, and said: "run".
"I didn't even know I could run, but we just went as fast as we could into the nearest building, a hotel. We were trying to help other people too, who were old or infirm, but it was just complete chaos."
She added: "We ran up to the first floor, but the corridor at the top of the stairs was a dead end.
"We ran up four more flights of stairs, and then someone in a room pulled us in - they were a British family and there were about 10 of us hiding in the room.
"We barricaded ourselves in and tried to get information about what was happening from our relatives back home.
"After a couple of hours, we were told it was safe to come out, and we were put back on a plane home within hours."
When the couple arrived back home, they continued to follow the diet plan - and 6ft 3in Lee has become a Cambridge consultant after hitting his target weight of 14st.
Anne has also slimmed to 15st, and a size 14 - and when she reaches her own target weight, she also hopes to become a consultant and inspire other people to lose weight with her story.
She added: "The whole thing has changed our outlook on life. We're both lucky to be here, and I want to make the most of every moment."
ANNE AND LEE'S TYPICAL DIET BEFORE:
- BREAKFAST: Nothing LUNCH: Four rounds of sandwiches, chocolate bar, packet of crisps, can of fizzy pop SNACK: Flapjack and more fizzy pop DINNER: Takeaway or lasagne with four rounds of bread and butter, plus pudding every night.
ANNE AND LEE'S TYPICAL DIET NOW:
- BREAKFAST: Shredded wheat LUNCH: Light salad and piece of fruit DINNER: Fish, jacket potato and vegetables
