Obese dad lost half of his weight to play football with his children

An obese dad who was left 'paralysed' due to his weight lost more than half of it to fulfil his dream of playing football with his kids.

Mark Marsden, 31, tipped the scales at around 26st 7lbs at his heaviest but now says he's "never felt better" after shifting off to a far more healthy 13st. The professional singer and DJ admitted that "pure greed" coupled with an "addictive personality" led him to rapidly gain weight throughout his 20s.

In 2021, he had to be fed by his brother for three months after he was left bedbound from painful back spasms resulting from his weight. He also had to be "supervised" when seeing his son, Riley, now 11, and daughter, Amelia, now five, as he was unable to look after them.

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Dedicated to change though, Mark underwent a weight loss programme with Slimming World. He said: "It’s horrible to think that at one point a father couldn’t be bothered to play football with his son, but I didn’t have it in me.

“I was too tired and I didn’t have the mindset that I could be active and have fun. The relationship with my kids is now fantastic, and my son has picked up my healthy lifestyle choices.

"I'll actually book Fridays off - I won't do any DJing or singing. We might just go to the beach or play football. A lot of the time we'll go to the gym. I've just picked up a six-month pass, and that way I will go twice a week.

"I’ve never felt or looked better in my life." Mark said he got into the unhealthy habit of gorging takeaways when he was being looked after his dad as a child.

He added: "My dad was a bloke