A MOTHER so depressed about her weight that she wrote a suicide note was celebrating today after a surgeon gave her a new life.

Lisa Marie Worsley, whose weight ballooned to over 18 stones, was saved by a stomach stapling operation which halved her body weight in less than a year.

The 33-year-old finance clerk was at her lowest ebb when she posted the suicide note to her mother, Sheila Burton, of Hirst Courtney, near Selby.

But thanks to surgeon Stephen Pollard, the mother-of-two has shed NINE stones and her dress size has gone into meltdown from a 26 to a 10.

Lisa Marie and her husband, Stephen, 39, dipped into their savings to pay for the £7,900 life-saving operation at St James's Hospital, Leeds.

The delighted couple are now enjoying a second honeymoon.

Lisa Marie said: "Less than a year ago I was a recluse, too ashamed to go out.

"I was yo-yo dieting, with my weight careering up and down. And while my friends were wearing skimpy T-shirts and short skirts, I was in baggy dark clothes.

"Now life is wonderful and I wake up every morning with a smile on my face.

"My husband is so proud. He thinks he's got a new woman."

She added: "I can't believe the transformation. I was short of breath just walking up the stairs - I was trapped in this black hole and there was no way out. I just wanted to die.

"I wanted my mum to know how desperately unhappy I was. So I wrote the suicide letter, which was more of a cry for help, and sent it to her."

And it was mum, Sheila, who runs a holistic therapy practice from her home at Hirst Courtney, who ended her daughter's nightmare.

Sheila had heard of a gastric bypass operation from one of her clients, where titanium staples were inserted into the stomach to make it smaller.

She took Lisa Marie to her local GP and asked for her to be referred to Mr Pollard for the operation.

When the surgeon said Lisa Marie would have to wait two to three years for an NHS operation, her husband agreed to foot the bill themselves to have it done privately.

Lisa Marie said: "I sailed through the operation and lost a stone in the first week. My life began that day."

Sheila said: "I was devastated when I received the suicide note - now I'm the happiest mother in the world."

Updated: 09:18 Wednesday, September 18, 2002