An obese couple with a combined weight of 42 stone are to undergo 'his and hers' gastric bypass operations on the NHS - at a cost of £24,000.

Roy and Kate Glencross have seen their weight balloon after spending years eating fried food, cakes and biscuits.

Roy, 60, now tips the scales at 24 stone and is virtually housebound because his knees need replacing due to the constant strain of his weight.
Kate, 59, carries 18st 6lbs on her 5ft 3ins frame and her blood pressure is so high she needs 13 pills a day to keep it under control.

After years of failed dieting the pair have persuaded their local NHS trust to pay £12,000 each so they can both undergo drastic surgery to shrink their stomachs.

Mr Glencross, a former fireman, said: "I want my life back. I want to play with my grandchildren and walk on the beach.

"What's more, I want to see my grandchildren grow up and get married.

"But to do it without my wife at my side would not be the same. Doing it together will give us the strength to get through it."

The couple, who have both been divorced, got married in 1979 when housewife Kate weighed 8st 6lb and Roy 14st.

Their weight has slowly increased over the years and the surgery has been offered as a last resort as their health deteriorates and other techniques fail.

Mr Glencross said: "We were comfortable with each other. We were happy. So, we gave up caring about weight.

"In hindsight it was madness. We used to eat truckloads of all the wrong stuff."

In an average day Roy would have a full English fry-up for breakfast, followed by a coke and a Mars bar mid-morning.

Lunch would be fish and chips washed down with more coke. He would tuck into a couple of packets of crisps to stave-off the hunger before home time.

Once home, Roy would eat cake or crisps, followed by a full meal - usually fried food.

Late evening, in front of the television, Roy would snack on cakes or biscuits.

The surgery involves reducing the size of the stomach by creating a pouch in the upper stomach using surgical staples then removing part of the small intestine.

This way the person can only eat small meals and the food eaten will not be absorbed so well, reducing calorie intake.

To qualify for the surgery patients must have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 or more - unless there are additional health reasons such as diabetes or a heart condition in which case the cut-off point is a BMI of 35.

The couple easily qualify because Mr Glencross has a BMI of 46 and his wife has one of 47.

(Abridged from the Daily Mail)

As well as the cost of NHS surgery, think of all the money this couple could have saved by eating less.