Sex therapist Charlie Rose: Would you let this woman sleep with your husband to SAVE your marriage?

The Sunday People meets the Exeter mum with a drastic "solution" to your relationship woes.

 

KIND and easy to confide in, Charlie Rose offers to help solve your marriage problems – sometimes by sleeping with your husband.
The mum-of-two is the picture of respectability as she packs off her teenage children to school and leaves her smart three-bedroom home for a day at the office.
But a few miles away the 32-year-old enters another world.
Her “office” is a one-bedroom flat in upmarket Exeter and her job is sex.
She charges couples £200 a time to put the passion back into their love lives and is even willing to show them how it’s done.
Charlie reckons her hands-on sex therapy courses have rekindled the dwindling sex drives of dozens of unhappy couples.
She said: “I really wanted to help couples put the spice back into their sex lives. Many of them are in happy marriages but the passion has gone.
“When a couple arrives I put them at ease by offering them a drink and getting them to talk in the lounge about their days.
“I get them to open up about the problems in their sex lives in a non-confrontational way. I’ve realised most of the issues are due to a lack of communication.
“After half an hour, I lead them into the bedroom where they ­undress and shower together.
“The couple will then lie down on a comfortable rug on the floor to work on their problem area while I watch.
“I encourage them to talk to each other and get involved myself to demonstrate techniques on men and women.
“In the past I have had full sex with husbands in front of their wives and demonstrated oral sex on men and women – but only if they ask me to.”
“Sometimes I only see a couple once but I have many who come back for repeat sessions.
“I prefer to see couples so the wives don’t get jealous but I can reassure all women, I have no emotional attachment to these men. For me it is just work.”
One 47-year-old woman from Devon described how she and her husband, aged 49, turned to Charlie for help.
She feared he would leave her unless things improved in the bedroom so, after finding Charlie on the internet and a half-hour phone call, she fixed up a three-hour sex training session.
She said: “It was a magical ­experience, one of the best decisions of my life. Oral sex in the marriage has never been good but Charlie showed us techniques we have taken on board.
“I’ve honestly never felt so in love and it’s almost like we’re a new couple again. We’re more open and honest with each other and not as prudish as before.”
This approach to couples sex is novel in the UK but far more common in the US.

 

And Charlie has attracted clients from all over southern England and from all walks of life – including builders, farmers, solicitors and police officers.
She even offers a kissing course. She said: “I’ve realised you get two types of people, they’re either froggers or swordsmen. The swordsmen want to battle with your tongue and the froggers want to lick half your face off.
“There’s definitely etiquette to kissing and, normally, when somebody comes to me I’ll tell them to stop and relax their mouth. By the end of the session they always say, ‘That’s fantastic, it’s really sexy.’
“All of this is about refreshing people. It’s like being a plumber, every year that plumber needs to go on a refresher course to learn about new models. It’s the same as relationships.”
Charlie, who has slept with nearly 1,000 men, also works as sex surrogate to help people with physically disabilities and impotency ­issues make love.
Charlie was working as a £100-an-hour escort when she realised there was a need to teach or remind couples about the joys of sex.
She said: “Most of my clients were in happy marriages but said they had stopped having sex. As an escort it wasn’t really my place to ask why.
“But I couldn’t stop thinking about it and how I wanted to help fix their marriages.
“I was already offering a kind of counselling service to these men and realised I could offer a proper service that would benefit the husbands and their wives.”
She said: “I’m not doing it just for the money. It’s what I enjoy most, people and sex.”
Charlie, who is 5ft 10in, was just 17 when she first got involved in the sex trade after agreeing to take part in photoshoot – which turned out to be dominatrix themed.
She laughed: “I was a bit naive. I immediately said, ‘Yeah, I’m up for that,’ and when I went for the meeting he showed me this huge suitcase of leather. I didn’t have a problem with it and thought I’d have a go.
“My first shoot was about eight hours’ work and I got £400, which was a lot of money back then.”
During our interview Charlie proudly shows us the picture from her first shoot in which she is dressed head-to-toe in leather, carrying a whip and riding a tractor on a farm.
Other shots show her in scanty outfits and high heels standing on top of stark-naked men.
“The men would moan and I’d constantly apologise. Eventually the photographer pulled me to one side and said, ‘Look, you can’t say sorry, they’re not being paid for it. They’re here because they enjoy it and they want to be here.’”
From there Charlie started charging men £150 a time for
private domination sessions.
She said: “It was easy money. I’d make men stand in a corner naked and whip them if they turned around. I used it as way of getting out my anger but got bored with it after a while.”
At this time Charlie stopped working as a dominatrix after getting serious with her childhood sweetheart. She quickly became pregnant and now has a boy, aged 14, and a 13-year-old girl.
But after seven years their ­relationship collapsed and she left her home in Nottingham to study at Plymouth University for a hospitality degree.
But after working in hotels and setting up a networking ­business, Charlie decided to join an escort agency.
She said: “I really enjoyed sex and I felt picking up strange men in bars was seedy so I decided this was better.
“Before long I had lots of regular clients so decided to set up on my own. But after two years I ­decided to try to help couples resolve their sex problems.”
Charlie, who fields calls from two mobiles during our chat, ­revealed both her divorced mum and dad, aged 64 and 74, and her kids approve of her work. “When I told my mum, her response was, ‘I knew it. There’s no way somebody can earn that much money fixing computers.
“As long as you’re safe, it’s fine. I love my dad. When I told him, he said: ‘Well, will it stop my strawberries from growing next year?’ I said, ‘no.’ And he went, ‘well don’t worry about it then.’”
Charlie claims her daughter “is rather proud” of her.
“I told her about 18 months ago and the easiest way for me to explain it to her was in regards to my work with disabled people. Her exact words were, ‘Ah, that’s really nice of you.’”
But would she want her own child getting involved in the sex industry? “She’s already decided she wants to be an interior designer and is into architecture.
“I’m strong enough to do this because you’ve got to split yourself into two. She’s not strong enough. I don’t think she’d want to.”
She added: “My son turned around and said as long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”
Charlie, who has a website www.sexualtraining.co.uk, insisted she enjoys work and wants to dispel the myth sex workers are dirty.
“There’s just so much negativity in society with regards to people like me.
"If you are forced into it they kind of give you this look of pity but for anybody who chooses to do it, we’re scrutinised even more.
"It winds me up when I read about MPs and politicians stating that we’re the lowest of the low.
“We’re not. I’ve got a degree with honours, I received a first in hospitality management and I had eight successful businesses. But I’ve only ever had unprotected sex with five people. People look down their noses when they know what I do for a living but they have probably had more unprotected sex than I have.
“I wouldn’t risk it, I don’t cross contaminate and everything is protected. I go to the clinic every month and they know exactly what I do for a living.
“I’m fully screened and tested and I’ve just done a documentary with the BBC called Unsafe Sex in the City. That’s how committed I am about safe sex.”

I married my Turkish holiday hunk to win back my ex - and it worked!

Colette Cheeseman marriage brought home to boyfriend Chris just what he was missing and the couple are now back together.

 

Colette Cheeseman isn’t the first woman to take revenge on an ex by bagging a better-looking bloke.
But when she decided to make her former boyfriend jealous, she ended up taking things much further than most jilted lovers.
After her other half Chris Burgess left her, she had a rebound romance with a worker in the Turkish resort she was staying in.
And rather than returning to reality after a two-week fling, she ended up marrying her holiday lover.
But astonishingly, even though she knew the marriage wouldn’t last, without making that commitment she’d never be where she is now – with Chris.
The marriage brought home to Chris just what he was missing and the couple are now back together – and have a baby son.
But it was a tortuous journey to a happy ending for Colette, as her Turkish marriage left her distraught and penniless.
Colette, 22, first met Ramazan Ildere in 2008 on a trip to Fethiye, Turkey, when she was still with Chris, 29.
Ramazan, 23, was one of the local men who worked at the resort. “He was tall, dark and handsome, there was no denying it,” she says. “But I was on holiday with my boyfriend and didn’t have eyes for anyone else.”

 

But as Colette and Chris lay sunbathing by the pool, Ramazan came over and tried to get them to join an aqua aerobics class.
“Chris just said no and that he wanted to relax and Ramazan walked away looking crestfallen,” recalls Colette. “Chris muttered under his breath that Ramazan was annoying and I just said he was only doing his job.”
Colette thought nothing more of the brief meeting, but it just so happened to coincide with cracks appearing in her relationship with Chris, a bricklayer and stonemason.
“We were always bickering. We’d been together three years and were both immature. He warned me if I kept threatening to break up with him, one day he would leave.”
A month later, she came back to the home they shared in their hometown of Bournemouth to find Chris had packed and left.
“He’d called my bluff. I felt so stupid,” Colette says. “I’d thrown away something special and cried in my mum’s arms.”
After seeing her daughter heartbroken, Colette’s mum Carol, 54, suggested they go on holiday to help mend her broken heart.
“We decided to go to the same Turkish resort. Mum said I needed space to get over Chris and it seemed a great idea. Sandy beaches and sunshine, just what I needed.”
But even at the airport, she couldn’t take her mind off her ex-boyfriend and called him just before she boarded her flight.
“I asked him if he was sure he didn’t think we had a future,” Colette says. “And, in no uncertain terms, Chris said it was over.” After checking in to their Turkish hotel, Colette headed straight to the bar – only to bump into Ramazan.
“He asked where Chris was and I admitted we’d broken up,” says Colette. “I was so flattered Ramazan remembered me. He promised he’d make sure I had a fun holiday and I thought what I needed was a holiday romance.”
During the day, Colette and Carol spent their time lazing about the pool and in the evenings Ramazan took them clubbing.
One evening, Ramazan kissed Colette and it developed into a fling.
“It gave me a much needed confidence boost. When I left the UK, I missed Chris but when I left Turkey, I missed Ramazan.”
Back home, the pair kept in constant contact by phone and email and, six months later, Ramazan asked Colette to come back to Turkey and meet his family. But when she arrived, she was in for a shock. Their street was narrow, with huge families packed into tiny houses.
Colette recalls: “In my hot pants, vest top and shades, I stuck out like a sore thumb. Ramazan was so romantic, but his family weren’t very welcoming.”
Two weeks into her stay, Ramazan proposed. But when Colette phoned her mum to tell her she was engaged, Carol tried to persuade her to call it off.
Colette’s mind was made up though and in October 2009, her parents flew out for the big day, along with the bridesmaids, Colette’s sisters Jessica, 26, and Adele, 28.
Carol and her dad Brian, 56, gave Ramazan’s family £5,000 towards it as their wedding gift. But her family still had their doubts.
“As I was having my hair done on the morning of the wedding, my sister, Adele, told me I could still back out if I wanted to,” says Colette. “That just made me all the more determined.”
But as she walked down the aisle, she realised her family were right.
The realisation had finally hit her she was marrying the wrong man. A whirlwind romance with a good-looking Turkish hotel worker had seemed the perfect way to mend her broken heart and show her ex-boyfriend Chris what he was missing out on.
But as she said “I do” she knew she had taken her revenge too far. It was a mistake that would eventually lead her back into the arms of the man she really loved.
She admits: “Even though I had a sinking feeling I was making a mistake, I didn’t have the bottle to back out. I felt so overwhelmed.
“It was far from the fairytale I’d convinced myself it was. On our first night as man and wife, the house was so full of family we slept outside on the balcony. Not exactly romantic.”
After the wedding was over and her family returned to the UK, Colette was hit by the reality of her new life.
On their honeymoon, they spent the whole time in the hotel because public displays of affection are very much frowned upon in Turkey.
Things only got worse back at Ramzan’s cramped family home, which the couple shared with his mum, brother, sister-in-law and their baby.
“Any ideas I’d had that life would be filled with sunshine, sunbathing and cocktails were soon bashed,” Colette says. “Ramazan was always asking me for money. I didn’t feel I could say no, even though I was also paying his mum about 200 lira a fortnight in rent.”
When Colette ran out of money, her parents would put more into her account.
“They didn’t have much money themselves, but I didn’t have the heart to tell them Ramazan was spending all their money. I kidded myself that if my husband wanted money for cigarettes, I should help him out. I tried to ignore the fact he was always out with his friends.”
After a year of marriage, Ramazan left to do national service – compulsory for all men up to the age of 40 in Turkey – and for Colette things went from bad to worse.
“Suddenly his family started acting strange around me, whispering in Turkish. I’d try and understand what they were saying but my understanding of the language was too basic. I was so lonely and scared.”
One day, Colette sneaked out of the house and called Carol from a pay phone in town.
“At the sound of her voice I just fell apart,” Colette says. “I told her that I just wanted to come home as soon as possible.”
Carol offered to pay for her daughter’s flight home and Colette told Ramazan’s family she was going to visit relatives.
When her Turkish husband and his family realised she had left for good, they persistently called her – begging her to return. But there was no going back.
Arriving home in October 2011, her mum barely recognised her. “I’d dyed my hair black and lost so much weight,” says Colette. “I was so glad to be home.”
Determined to pay back her family, Colette got a job in telesales and worked overtime to help pay for her sister Adele’s wedding, because Carol and Brian couldn’t afford to. Colette says: “I felt so guilty. My stupidity meant my sister wouldn’t have her dream wedding. I gave her every penny I could.”
A month later, Colette was having dinner with friends when she spotted Chris, her ex-boyfriend.
“I froze. We’d had no contact since he’d told me at the airport that he didn’t want me and I’d gone off and married someone else.”
But her sister Jessica, knowing she still had feelings for Chris, emailed him asking if he’d have dinner with Colette and he agreed.
The couple got back together and finally in November last year Colette gave birth to their baby son Tyler.
Two months later, she filed for divorce and, to her relief, Ramazan signed the papers.
Colette says: “I was so foolish. I didn’t know Ramazan and rushed into a marriage that cost my parents £5,000.
They spent another £5,000 sending me money while I was away.
She admits that her feelings for Chris had never gone away – even when she was with Ramazan. But she tried to put them to the back of her mind.
“When I married someone else, it had made Chris realise how much he loved me,” says Colette. “So when Chris asked if we could try again, I was so glad.”

Strictly's Len Goodman: How breaking my foot playing football got me into dancing.

The judge talks about his upbringing in East London, schooldays, jobs and how he started ballroom dancing and never stopped

 

I was almost born within the sound of Bow Bells, nearly born in Wales, but ended up born in Kent.
But never mind all that, I’m a Londoner through and through.
I blame Adolf Hitler. If it weren’t for him I would have been born in Whitechapel.
As it is, I was born in Farnborough, Kent, which is also the county in which I’ve lived most of my life.
Despite this, I still consider myself a Londoner and, of course, when I open my mouth, everyone thinks I am!
In early 1944 Dad and Mum were living in a little village called Felinfoel, which is near Llanelli in South Wales, where my father was working as an electrician mostly at airfields.
A doctor sent my mum to Swansea to have me but there were no beds, so she got on the train and headed for home.
When she finally arrived at The London Hospital in Whitechapel, they decided that it was safer to send her to Kent, because there had been a massive air raid the night before.
All of which explains how I ended up being born in Farnborough on April 25, 1944.
I spent my first seven years living in a two-up two-down in Harold Street, Bethnal Green. Ours was the end of the row and had three bedrooms – very des res.
My mum and dad lived there with my mum’s family and it really was an amazing household.
My grandad was a costermonger, a barrow boy who started out with a stall in Bethnal Green market before eventually owning two London shops, along with another my mum ran in Kent.
One thing I have to thank my grandad for is that he was the one that gave me so many funny sayings, some of which I’ve even used when ­critiquing dancers on the television.
“It’s freezing cold out, you’d better wear two hairnets” is what he’d say to my nan.

Another time he said, “Lou,” – my nan’s name was Louisa, like my mum – “This toast is as hard as a beggar boy’s a***.”
In our back yard we had a boiler that was used for cooking the beetroot we sold on the stall.
Underneath the copper boiler was a large metal ring with eight burners that was connected by a long pipe to the gas supply.
Besides cooking the beetroot in it, Nan also used it for doing the family’s washing.
As the water was heating up, before she put the beetroot in, Nan would strip me off and put me in the water.
She’d give me a bloody good scrubbing down while I stood in the cauldron – I must have looked like a cannibal’s lunch.
After I got out, the water was heated some more and then in would go the beetroot for cooking. Customers always commented on how good Grandad’s beetroot tasted.
At senior school I played football and cricket. At Westwood Secondary Modern in Kent I played for the under-13s cricket team.
In one game, always the grudge match, against Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School, I caught their leading batsman.
I say caught but in actual fact he hit the ball so hard that I didn’t get my hand out of the way quick enough and the ball kind of lodged there and somehow I didn’t drop it.
I was fielding next to my pal, Pete Dawson, and we started whooping and hollering and jumping around.
The next day in assembly the headmaster stood on stage in front of the whole school and said: “Goodman and Dawson please come here.”
We walked forward smiling, ­anticipating his congratulations for our fine ­performance.
“Goodman and Dawson, I understand from the sports master that there was disgusting behaviour on the cricket pitch.
"You both acted in a very unsporting-like manner and because of this you will take no further part in any cricket for the rest of the season.”
It was football that got me into ballroom dancing, in a roundabout kind of way.
When I left school and was an apprentice I was football crazy.
I was playing for Slade Green United on Hackney Marshes when I broke a metatarsal bone in my foot – the same one that every other footballer seems to break these days.
I kicked the ball north while at the same time the biggest centre-half in the world tried to kick the ball south (well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it).
The outcome was my foot went west and I was in agony for weeks.
All the doctor said was: “Try to keep off of it as much as possible.” This was ludicrous, as I still had to go to work, so I spent my life hobbling around.
The foot was incredibly slow to heal and I went back to my doctor but ended up seeing an old Scottish locum.
“You’ll need to build your foot up a lot more before you can play again. Laddie, you could try dancing.”

“Dancing?” I couldn’t believe it.
“Aye, lad, you need to keep that foot working, you need to exercise it and so dancing is my recommendation.”
Later that day, the girl I was seeing drove me round my dad’s place and he immediately said: “That’s lucky, there’s a new beginners’ ballroom class starting next Tuesday.”
Despite my thinking “no way”, the following Tuesday I was at Erith Dance Studio and a whole new world was about to be opened up to me.
My first exposure to the entertainment industry was going to the pictures.
When I was a boy and wanted to go into a film, one to which you had to be accompanied by an adult, we would stand outside and ask a man to take us in.
“Mister, will you take us in, mister? We won’t sit with you, promise.”
This was especially important if he was with his bird. Later on, I was the one going to see a film with a girl and that first time was a bit of an ordeal.
Her name was Sally and she and I went to the Granada in Welling in Kent to see the 4pm double feature.
In the flicks we sat side by side watching the film, neither of us moving. I’m not sure how this happened but suddenly we were holding hands.
It was magic. It must have been hot, that or nerves were playing a part, because both our hands were wringing wet with sweat by the end of the first film.
The second film was barely past the opening credits when I put my arm around Sally and her head rested on my shoulder.
There was only one problem, her hair was so highly lacquered it was like having a Brillo pad rubbing against my face.
It was like sniffing glue, which I think added to feeling as though I was getting high.
I thought going to the pictures with a girl was the best thing that had ever happened to me in my life.

British prisoner of war freed to visit dying mother kept his promise and RETURNED to German captors.

He had been held at ­Magdeburg in Germany for two years when he received the news his mother Louise was close to death.

 

A British soldier was released from a First World War prison camp to visit his dying mother – on the condition he returned to his German captors.
Captain Robert Campbell had been held at ­Magdeburg in Germany for two years when he received the news his mother Louise was close to death, a historian has discovered.
The young officer, 29, speculatively wrote to Kaiser Wilhelm II begging to be allowed to see her one last time.
And incredibly, the German leader granted Capt Campbell leave with the sole condition he gave his “word” as an officer that he would return.
After going back to Gravesend, Kent, in 1916 to see his cancer-stricken mother, he kept his promise and returned to prison.
He stayed there until the end of the war in 1918.
Historian Richard Van Emden, who uncovered the story, said: “Capt Campbell was an officer and he made a promise on his honour to go back.
“Had he not turned up there would not have been any retribution on ay other prisoners.
“What I think is more amazing is that the British Army let him go back to Germany.
"The British could have said to him, ‘You’re not going back, you’re going to stay here’.”

 

Capt Campbell was earlier captured just two weeks after the British declared war on Germany in July 1914.
He had been leading the 1st Battalion East Surrey Regiment when his troops took up a position on the Mons-Conde canal on the France-Belgium border.
But a week later, his men were attacked by German forces and he was seriously injured and captured.
He was treated in a military hospital in Cologne, Germany, before being transported to Magdeburg.
After later being granted two weeks of compassionate leave by the Kaiser, he reached his mother’s bedside on December 7, 1916, and spent a week with her before returning to Germany.
Louise ­eventually died in February 1917.
Richard ­discovered the ­incredible story as he researched correspondence between the British Foreign Office and its German counterparts.
The records also show the Germans contacted the British with a similar request for their soldier Peter Gastreich to be allowed to leave the Isle of Wight to see his dying mother.
But the British were less accommodating than the Kaiser and turned the request down.
Speaking of Capt Campbell’s release, Richard, 48, said: “This was totally unique.
"I think it is such a unique example that I don’t think you can draw any parallels.
“In my experience this is a one-off and is one of those things that just tickles your fancy.”

 

Capt Campbell was freed from the camp at the end of the war and returned to Britain. He eventually retired from the military in 1925.
Yet despite his ­traumatising ordeal, Capt Campbell was again thrust into action at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 when he rejoined his former regiment.
But his eventual role as Chief Observer for the Royal Observer Corps on the Isle of Wight was less risky than his duties 30 years earlier.
The old soldier managed to survive the war unscathed and died in July 1966 aged 81.
Capt Campbell’s story features in Mr Van Emden’s latest book, Meeting the Enemy: The Human Face of the Great War, which is out now.

Weird Story Of A Pregnant Lady Who Shocked The Gynecologists

 

On 22nd August,2013,a thirty two year old pregnant lady,Beena,walked along with two more men into a renowned maternity hospital in the Bengaluru city of India…
The gynecologists there,after conducting all the necessary examinations on the pregnant lady,have finally declared that everything is fine with the growth of fetus in her body..

And it was at that point of time..
The pregnant lady shocked all the gynecologists there,when she asked them ,”..Will you please help me understand who among these two men in my life is the actual father of the child growing in me..??..”..
Since no gynecologist in this world is trained to face such an embarrassing question,all the gynecologists there remained speechless,for a moment,with weird expressions on their faces..
However,the senior most gynecologist among them could muster some courage and asked the lady what the matter is..

And this is what the pregnant lady has said in her reply…
“..Am Beena from Delhi currently working as a software engineer in a global firm located in the Electronic city of Bengaluru..Am married to Prateik in 2003 but could not conceive despite eight years of my married life with him..I have then applied for a divorce,a couple of years ago,and the honorable court too was considerate enough to grant me divorce in a quick course of time..”
“..After the divorce,I have fallen in love with Roshan,a senior colleague of mine in my office and ever since was having a steady and sustained relationship with him..”
“..Although I have been granted divorce by the court,am still courting relationship with my ex husband and living along with him in the same flat where we used to live earlier prior to our divorce…”
“..Now that am pregnant am really eager to know who among these two men in my life is responsible for the pregnancy and who would be the biological father of my child..Based on your DNA reports,Doctor,me and my child will lead the rest of our life with that man…Please help me and my child”..
Although the gynecologists kept looking at each other for a long time – after the lady in front of them completed her weird story – they finally came out of the shock and collected the blood samples of the two men and the lady and have sent them to their lab for DNA tests..
Reports are now awaited..

Check Out the Source
But the twist in this whole story is – irrespective of whoever is finally declared father of the child by the DNA tests,the two men in Beena’s life are eager to spend the rest of their life with Beena alone..But what is so special about this lady called BEENA..??

CONCLUSION :
After a week,the Bengaluru Maternity hospital authorities have released,to the press,the results of the DNA tests conducted on the pregnant lady and her two wise men ..
But the results,unfortunately for the husband,confirm that the pregnant lady’s second love -her colleague – is the Father of the unborn child…The lady has now decided to lead the rest of her life with her colleague and disown her husband..
May God bless the poor husband..

Read the news carrying the reports of the DNA tests conducted on the pregnant lady and her two men

 
 

Teenager's miracle spine operation to correct curve of 86 degrees.

It was the worst case consultants had seen and three specialists said operating was too risky as it could cause paralysis.

Student Mili Wood endured years of agony with a curve in her spine that hit 86 degrees. It was the worst case consultants had seen and three specialists said operating was too risky as it could cause paralysis or death. But against the odds, spinal surgeon Evan Davies, at Southampton ­Children’s Hospital, went ahead. Grateful Mili, 17, said: “This operation has changed my life for ever.” She was diagnosed with severe scoliosis of the spine and developed a lump on her back at the age of two.

Parents Julie and Brian, of Warrington, Cheshire, watched helplessly as she got worse and treatments failed. Mrs Wood, 43, said: “It was hell. She was bullied and endured terrible pain.” But they found Mr Davies who was prepared to operate and spent 10 hours inserting metal rods to straighten Mili’s spine.

Now she is four inches taller and off to college. Mr Davies said: “An op like this carries as high a risk as you can get. Mili’s went fantastically.”

Doctors told me to leave my son to die - but he refused to let the hole in his head kill him !

Jamie was born with a hole in his forehead, his brains sticking out of his skull and doctors didn’t expect him to survive the night.

As he plays in the sun, Jamie Daniel looks like any other five-year-old boy enjoying a spring day. But for proud mum Leanne simply seeing him running around and laughing is a miracle. Because Jamie was born with a hole in his forehead and his brains sticking out of his skull – and doctors didn’t expect him to survive the night. Leanne told the Sunday People: “He never even went to intensive care. “Heartbreakingly, he was put in a cot next to my bed and I was told to let nature take its course. It was devastating. Twin “The hole in his head was so large doctors believed it was the kindest way – and they sent him home with me to die.” But they hadn’t bargained on Jamie’s incredible will to live. For the brave 2lb 7oz boy – half the weight of the twin sister born two minutes before him – refused to give up on life. And today, thanks to ­pioneering surgery, Jamie is a boisterous little boy who goes to school and loves his football. His survival against all the odds owes much to the love of single mum Leanne, 35. She said: “I never gave up. His appearance as a baby was ­shocking but he had such a personality I couldn’t help bond with him.”

Support worker Leanne hadn’t planned the pregnancy and split from her partner soon after finding out she was expecting Jamie and his twin Lucy. Then at 31 weeks she had a scan – and it revealed a ­problem with Jamie. At first doctors thought he had a cyst on his face. But further tests found an encephalo-cele, a rare defect where part of the brain sticks out of the skull. In Jamie, it was between his eyes. The exact cause is unknown and 80 per cent of cases are fatal. Leanne said: “When the consultant told me he’d most likely be born dead or at best have severe brain-damage I burst into tears. “Although I was past the 24-week abortion limit, I was offered a termination because the defect was so serious. “This would have meant ­injecting Jamie in the womb with a drug to stop his heart and then carrying on with the pregnancy so Lucy would be born alive. “But there was no way I could go through with it – I decided if he were going to die I’d rather he died naturally at birth. “The next couple of weeks were so hard – I’d lie in bed ­feeling both babies kicking with tears streaming down my face.” At 34 weeks, Leanne’s waters broke and she had a Caesarean at a hospital near her home in Nuneaton, Cheshire. She said: “Lucy came first and two minutes later I had Jamie. “I expected the doctors to say he was dead but instead he gave a loud cry. “A nurse showed him to me – I was horrified as the hole seemed to take up most of his face.” Lucy, who weighed 5lb, was taken to a special care unit for monitoring. But Jamie was put in a cot next to his mum. Leanne said: “A midwife told me it was likely that as the hole on Jamie’s face was an open wound he’d pass away in the night. “She added it was unlikely Jamie would be able to feed. But I felt so sorry for him I gave him a cuddle. And he was obviously hungry so I gave him a bottle of milk.” To her amazement the newborn guzzled the lot. Leanne stayed in hospital for a week.

She said: “It sounds cruel but every day the doctors seemed surprised he was still alive. “I think they truly believed the best thing for him was to pass away quietly.” On the day she left, Leanne said she was given three choices: “Leave him to see out the rest of his days in a hospice, leave him in hospital or bring him home to die. “But by now I’d bonded with Jamie – he was my son and it was as if I no longer saw the hole. “All I could see was my ­beautiful baby boy, Lucy’s ­adorable brother. The thought of leaving him behind was ­unthinkable. At least he would die with his mum at his side.” But the following months took their toll. Leanne said: “His brain-fluid constantly leaked through the hole and all the skin peeled off his face. “Taking him out was ­impossible because he looked so terrible and feeding Jamie his bottles of milk took hours.” Yet despite everything, Jamie put on weight – and even began to smile. And at four months Leanne took him back to see the consultant. This time, impressed that Jamie seemed to be ­flourishing, the doctor discussed having a pioneering seven-hour operation to ease his brains back into his skull and close the hole. Leanne said: “The problem – and why they hadn’t attempted the surgery before – was that it was so dangerous. “It could kill him or he could be left severely brain-damaged. “But because the hole in his head was open he couldn’t go on like he was – eventually he’d get an infection and die. So ­agonisingly I agreed.” The op was a success. Leanne said: “When Jamie opened his eyes and looked at me with his usual knowing look, I knew I’d made the right decision.” Jamie had to spend seven weeks in hospital. Since then he’s needed another op to make sure the hole is sealed for good and he’s had eye surgery to unblock his tear-ducts. Leanne said: “When he was a baby doctors had no idea whether he’d walk or talk. But by the time he was three he was walking and he is now talking.” Last September Jamie, who is still small for his age, started at a school for children with ­learning difficulties – and he’s coming on in leaps and bounds. Leanne said: “He adores football, playing on his iPad and he has so many friends. “With such determination to beat all the odds, I know Jamie’s future is bright. “He’s already proved he can cope with whatever life throws at him. I’m so proud of him.” Foetal expert Dr Bryan Beattie, of Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales, said: “It’s remarkable this little boy has done so well.”

My ex-soldier husband Trevor is becoming a woman - and she's still the love of my life.

Mum-of-three Victoria is helping 'Treva' to live as a woman.

Browsing through a rack of summer dresses, Victoria and Treva look like ­girlfriends on a shopping spree. But Treva used to be Trevor – a hard-bitten Army veteran who saw action in the Falklands... and Victoria is her wife. Yet despite Treva’s ­decision to change sex, taking hormones which have caused her to grow B-cup breasts, they say they are happier than ever as a couple. Now mum-of-three Victoria, 39, is helping Treva, 41, to live as a woman. “With Treva, I have the best of both worlds,” says Victoria. “She is still the love of my life, the same person inside, but now I also have a best friend who I can talk about make-up and clothes with. Of course I was absolutely shocked when she first told me. “But now we are both going through the journey of her sex change together. I am as thrilled as she is to see her developing breasts and a new ­figure.” Treva, who out of ­desperation to become a woman once took ­Victoria’s contraceptive pills, says: “Telling ­Victoria I wanted to change sex was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It is such a relief that she is standing by me.” Now the couple even share their wardrobe. “We both have a huge passion for shoes,” says Victoria. “We often swap clothes – we have the same tastes. We both love ­casual clothes, although Treva prefers to wear full make-up every day and always has her nails perfectly manicured.”

Treva has also had ­plastic surgery to look more feminine. The couple took out a £4,500 loan, and seven weeks ago she had an op to make her nose smaller. She also plans to have £3,500 surgery to make her forehead less prominent. Victoria first met Trevor when they were at school in Boston, Lincolnshire. She was 13, he was 15... and there were no sign he was ­anything but masculine. She says: “Trevor was known as a tough bloke who everyone looked up to and no one would cross. I ­developed quite a crush on him and for a few weeks we had a typical teenage romance with a few stolen kisses.” But within a few weeks Trevor had left town, signing up with the Royal Engineers. Over the next 23 years he became a Lance Corporal, serving in Bosnia, Kenya and the Falklands. “I married and had a son, now aged 21,” says Victoria, who works as a carer. “When that marriage ended I met someone else and had two more children, who are now 10 and six. Trevor also had various girlfriends and married when he was 24.”

But they never forgot each other and kept in touch for those two decades. “Trevor would suddenly ring out of the blue and when he was back on leave we’d sometimes meet up,” Victoria says. “Sometimes years went by when we didn’t see one another. “When we did, the attraction was incredibly strong but nothing happened because each time one of us was with someone else.” However, in September 2006 Victoria received an email from Trevor that rocked her world... telling her he wanted to become a woman. Shocked, Victoria emailed back to ask if he was joking. But, she says: “When he sent me photos of painted nails I knew it was for real.” Treva says: “Ever since I was a teenager I’d always felt something wasn’t right because I didn’t seem to fit with men or women. “But in those days there was no ­information about men who wanted to become women. “So I kept any feelings to myself. There was no way I could have confided at the time to any of my Army ­colleagues. “I’d always had a secret stash of women’s clothes. My first wife had no idea but when she went out I’d sometimes dress up in them and just sit around the house. “In hindsight it was the only time I felt truly comfortable.” After the revelation, the number of emails between Victoria and Trevor dwindled. For three years they lost touch altogether and Treva admits she was worried that their friendship had been ruined. But by May 2010, Trevor’s 15-year marriage had ended and when he emailed her out of the blue, Victoria’s relationship with her youngest children’s father was on the rocks too. Treva says: “I’d never been able to get Victoria out of my mind. She’d always been the one person I could confide in.” Victoria was thrilled to be back in touch with Trevor. She says: “Talking with him I realised it didn’t matter he still wanted to change sex. He was my first love, a soulmate.” Shortly after Victoria’s partner moved out she started dating Trevor. Then, on New Year’s Eve 2011, ­Victoria made him up as a woman for the first time. She says: “It was a very intimate moment – and I proposed. “Years ago Trevor had asked me to marry him but I turned him down ­because I’d only just come out of my first marriage. Now the time was right. I was delighted when he accepted.” Within six months she and her ­children moved to live with Trevor, who was still living as a man at his Army base in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire. And in September 2011 they married in a small register office ceremony. “On our wedding day Trevor was still living as a man... and we made love as man and wife. No one knew our secret but I already knew that I’d support him with his change of sex.” Soon afterwards Trevor retired from the Army and started to dress as a woman every day. Victoria says: “I could immediately see how much happier Trevor was as a ­woman. As a man he was a typical quiet reserved British man but as Treva she was much more outgoing, chatty and relaxed.” The first step of the transformation was to get rid of body hair. “That took a whole day,” says Victoria. “Then she began taking my contraceptive pills, which I’d researched on the internet could help male-to-female transsexuals. “The female hormones helped her to start to grow breasts, softened her skin and thickened her hair.” Then they went shopping together, with Victoria helping 5ft 7in Treva to choose clothes to flatter her figure and apply make-up. They also visited the children’s school to tell teachers about the sex change. “We were honest with the children,” says Victoria. “We simply told them that Trevor felt he was a woman trapped in a man’s body and was going to change sex. “The school has been completely ­supportive and the children, who still regularly see their dad, who has remarried, have accepted Treva,” she says. Despite this, Victoria admits she and Treva do sometimes get odd looks and stares when they go out together. “We decided it was because some of Treva’s facial features were still quite masculine. She had a large nose for a woman and we both decided it would look more feminine if she had cosmetic surgery to make it smaller.” Now, instead of contraceptive pills, Treva takes female hormones, which ­Victoria has found for sale online. “As well as breasts, she has a more ­womanly shape with hips and a smaller waist,” she says. Treva now hopes to have implant surgery to create larger breasts, and to be accepted on to the NHS waiting list for gender ­reassignment surgery to remove her penis and create a vagina. The couple, who live in Peterborough, admit many friends and family were ­initially shocked. “Trevor was the last man anyone would ever imagine would want to become a woman,” says Victoria. “But now people have got to know Treva, they are more understanding. In fact some of our friends are old Army colleagues. “They still call Treva her old Army ­nickname, Arthur Askey, but no one bats an eyelid now.” They plan to stay married and Victoria is writing a book about their experience. Victoria adds: “As Treva has taken the hormones, she can no longer make love as a man. “But as two women together we still do have an intimate and sexual relationship. To me she is the same wonderful person. “In fact we are happier than ever ­together. Trevor becoming Treva has only brought us closer.”

Astonishing picture of baby born inside amniotic sac in ultra rare phenomenon.

Greek doctor says he was left "breathless" by the "ultra rare" moment captured on camera.

Astonishing picture of baby born inside amniotic sac in ultra rare phenomenon 5 Jun 2013 17:20 Greek doctor says he was left "breathless" by the "ultra rare" moment captured on camera Dr Aris Tsigris This is the incredible rare moment a baby was born still inside its amniotic sac. Greek doctor Dr Aris Tsigris posted the picture on Facebook after delivering the baby via caesarean section in Athens. Dr Tsigris said that because the baby was still encased in the sac it would not have even realised it had been born. During the early stages of labour, the amniotic sac breaks, which is commonly referred to as a mother's "water breaking". Dr Tsigris said he was left "breathless" by the "ultra rare" moment and added that there was no risk to the baby as it was still getting food from the placenta. As soon as the sac was broken the baby started breathing on its own.

My anorexia battle: I survived on an apple and laxatives then my baby saved my life.

In her desperation to look her best in a bikini, she started skipping meals, dieting to an extreme and making herself sick

Emma Stewart still remembers how excited she was about her first holiday abroad when she was 15. The sun, sea and sand were beckoning, but in her desperation to look her best in a bikini, she started skipping meals, dieting to an extreme and making herself sick. Her short trip to Greece plunged Emma into an anorexia nightmare, and she spent years going in and out of hospital. At her worst, Emma survived on just one apple and 150 laxatives a day as her weight plummeted close to four stone. Warning her she could die, doctors even force-fed her through a tube. They also warned that she was destroying her chances of ever having a child. It was a thought that terrified her... until her miracle daughter Kacy was born. More than two years on from the surprise pregnancy, the 25-year-old sales assistant credits Kacy with bringing her back from the brink of death. She says: “I feel so lucky to still be alive and to have such a beautiful little girl. "I’ve lost friends to this illness and while I know I will never fully be rid of those anorexic feelings, I only have to look at Kacy and I feel strong. She helps me more than any doctor can.” Looking back, Emma, of Elgin, in Moray, north east Scotland, explains that she cannot understand why she was desperate to slim down so much 10 years ago. A petite 5ft 1ins and weighing 7st 10lbs at the time, she says it is hard to comprehend how she ever felt she had a weight problem when her best friend Julie and her family invited her along on their break in Greece.

She says: “I was convinced I needed to be skinny to look good in a bikini. I started obsessing about my weight and what I’d look like sunbathing. "I was convinced I was too heavy, so I started skipping meals and making myself sick whenever Mum forced me to sit down and eat a family meal.” In just two months Emma’s weight dropped to 6st 5lbs. She says: “When I finally went on holiday I thought I looked great in my bikini, but in truth I felt weak and dizzy.” Forced to sit down and eat three meals a day with Julie and her family, Emma started making herself sick. The secret came out after she blocked the hotel’s toilets and once back home, Julie’s mum Donna told Emily’s family about her eating disorder. Emma says: “Mum was devastated and marched me to the GP who insisted on regular check-ups to monitor my weight. “But I knew I just wanted to get thinner and thinner. I felt like a failure because I’d been caught before I could reach my goal of three stone. I’d read about a girl who had got to that weight and had set myself the same goal.” Under her mum’s watch, Emma knew she had to find a new way to slim, as skipping meals would no longer work. Then she heard about a girl who used laxatives to keep her weight down. She says: “It was the perfect solution. I went to the doctor, said I was constipated and he prescribed some. I was so excited.” Finishing the bottle in two days, she bought more from a pharmacy and was soon swallowing 150 a day. “The weight was melting off me,” she says. “I spent hours on the loo and the cramps were terrible – but as long as my tummy was flat I didn’t care. I’d even take them while I was at school.” But when the chemist refused to serve her a few weeks later, Emma was devastated. “By that point Mum had become wise to what I was up to and took me back to the GP.” Emma was referred to a young persons’ eating disorders unit soon after. But instead of helping, it gave her a crash-course in how to shed even more weight. She says: “The other patients were all so devious. One girl even helped me hide my food in the bins. “I started taking part in competitions to see who could scrape most butter off their toast, and who could burn the most calories, without the nurses noticing. I’d hide laxatives in my shoes and socks.” Even when her doctor told her she was ruining her health and her chances of having a baby she could not see sense. She says: “I didn’t listen. All I cared about was being skinny. When I looked in the mirror I just saw disgusting fat. "I’d always wanted to be a mum, but the thought of being pregnant and getting fat was terrifying. "I’d measure my legs and if I couldn’t get my hand round my thigh I knew I had to lose weight.”

Emma spent 10 months in the unit, even taking her GCSEs there. She only started putting on weight when she realised she would never be discharged unless she did. But when she left, at 7st 7lbs, she had no intention of keeping the weight on. After starting college, Emma carried on taking laxatives, visiting different supermarkets to avoid arousing suspicions. She started using the gym daily, and within a few months she was back down to six stone, surviving on one apple a day and 60 laxatives. The next few years were punctuated with hospital stays, and the sudden death of her brother Colin in November 2005 saw her stop eating altogether. Her weight hit 4st 7lbs and she was detained under the Mental Health Act and force-fed through a tube in hospital. She says: “I couldn’t cope with the grief. It was my lowest point. I pulled the feeding tube out all the time, longing to be dead if I couldn’t be thin.” It was a pal’s visit that finally gave Emma strength. The friend had got a tattoo of Emma’s name on her ankle. She says: “I realised everyone thought I was going to die. I couldn’t believe it. It was a wake-up call and I started getting better.” Once back at a healthy eight stone, Emma moved into her own flat, and on a night out in July 2009 she met roofer David, now 26. Emma explains: “I’d spent so long hating myself and my body, I’d given up on the idea of a relationship. But David made me see a future that didn’t revolve around being thin. “I was still having bad days, bingeing and purging, but David made me more accepting of my body. I had my first McDonald’s since I was 14. We were so happy and moved in together, the only thing missing was a baby.” With the doctor’s words ringing in her ears, Emma feared she and David would never get the family they longed for. She says: “I’d been taking 150 laxatives a day at one point – it was obvious my body couldn’t cope with a baby.” But Emma got a welcome surprise. She says: “Although I was on the pill my cycle had been erratic for years because of my eating problems. When I missed a period I never thought I’d be pregnant but I took a test anyway. “I couldn’t speak when it came up positive. Mum said it was a blessing and I broke down in tears.” Emma’s joy was mixed with dread – putting on weight terrified her. She says: “I cared about the life growing inside me, but I still had days when I made myself sick. I was 7st 7lbs and my eating disorder still had a hold on me.” But as her pregnancy progressed, Emma felt like she was getting some control back. She says: “As soon as I saw the first scan I realised I had to eat, for my baby. I knew it was my last chance to make a go of my life.” Emma worked with a dietician to follow a meal plan that would mean her baby received all the ­nutrients it needed – three meals a day, two snacks and a milky drink at night. And by the time Kacy was born in June 2011, at 7lb 12oz, Emma herself was 11st 7lbs. She says: “Kacy was my priority, not my body. I was too busy being the best mum I could be to worry about laxatives and purging – she was so much more important.” Two years on and weighing 8st 10lbs, Emma feels she has shut a door on her anorexia. She says: “Whenever I get tempted to not eat, I look at Kacy and the longing to purge or starve myself goes. "Kacy truly saved my life and has given it a whole new meaning.”