'I had my 36J breasts reduced to stop being groped in the street,' says woman who was jeered every time she left the house
Last updated at 2:46 PM on 1st July 2011
Gemma Westmoreland had her huge 34J breasts reduced - because she was fed up of being groped by strangers.
She shed one and a half stone in the NHS operation and said it's transformed her life.
The 26-year-old said she was jeered at in the street, regularly had both men and women grab her chest on nights out, and needed to wear two bras for support.
Gemma Westmoreland before her operation had 36J breasts which men - and women - regularly groped whenever she left the house
With the breast reduction surgery she's dropped 14 cup sizes - from J to C - and halved her dress size, from 16 to 8.
'I was getting unwanted attention from both sexes,' said Gemma, from, Barnsley, east Yorkshire.
'People thought that because they were so big they could grab them. I would be out in town and people thought they had free rein to grope me.
'It didn't matter what town I was in. I would be walking down the street and people would shout jeers of "they can't be real." It was horrible to be me before this operation.
'I had to wear two bras, which made me feel very self-conscious when I was getting intimate or personal.
'I don't think I'm the same person now. I feel 100 per cent better. I couldn't be happier. Family and friends say I'm smiling a lot more. It's the best thing I've ever done, no question.
'I've now got a body rather than just a bust. I would walk down the street and people would just see the bust.
'Too many people wanted to touch, too many people thought they were something they could grab. It wasn't what I wanted.
'I'd be out at bars in town and men and women would want to touch, like they were my party piece. I just had enough of people grabbing, touching and wanting to have a look.
'People assumed that because they were so big I'd had them enhanced. I certainly hadn't. It was a recurring thing and it was attention that I didn't want.
Relief: Miss Westmoreland says the surgery transformed her life and she can enjoy herself on nights out at last
'Now I can walk down the street and people aren't fixated with that part of my body anymore. No one wants to grab or give me a feel. It's great.'
Gemma, who is just 4ft 11in, was suffering severe back pain from the weight she was carrying and had been warned that the problem would get worse with age.
'Before the operation I got on the scales and I was 12st. Afterwards, even with all the swelling from the surgery, I was 10-and-a-half,' said Gemma, a telephonist for bookmakers William Hill.
She originally requested surgery seven years ago when she was 19 and living in Farnborough, Hampshire.
'I told the surgeon I was gay because he asked about me breastfeeding and I explained that I wasn't expecting to have kids.
'As soon as I said I was gay he told me he wouldn't be able to provide surgery on the NHS.
'To go private, and this is a few years ago, would have cost £7,000 and I didn't have that kind of money.'
She decided to have the operation as the extra weight she was carrying hurt her back and she'd had enough of the abuse.
She visited her GP and within three months she had the three-hour operation at Sheffield Hallamshire Hospital.
Surgery went well but Gemma developed an infection in her right breast two weeks later, which was treated at Barnsley Hospital.
She had stitches and was treated with antibiotics to fight the infection and is pleased with the results.
'My surgeons were absolutely brilliant and I'm glad I had it done.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2010187/Gemma-Westmoreland-36J-breasts-reduced-stop-groped-street.html#ixzz1Qx5OmqhL
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