THE heartache of losing a precious newborn son prompted a Widnes couple to change their lives.

Simon Ellison, 39, and his wife Rea, 34, kept vigil beside their fragile baby boy in intensive care as he battled for life.

The tiny infant weighed just 1lb 10oz when he was born prematurely at 24 weeks on December 2, 2015.

Sadly, he only survived for one month and five days but made such an impact on his parents and brother Charlie, nine, they vowed to take inspiration from him.

The couple decided to combat their own health problems by losing weight in his memory.

“We wanted to do something positive,” said Simon, from Halton View.

“Thomas was a little fighter. We treasure the short time we had with him. He developed his own personality and was a little monkey.

“Trying to deal with something like this is so difficult. Losing weight gave us a rope to hold onto and pull yourself along.

“I got diagnosed with diabetes which gave me an extra push. I also had back problems and had undergone operations.”

In just 10 months they shed 10 stone six pounds between them and have been named Slimming World couple of the year.

After losing more weight, they are now through to the regional final in Derbyshire on March 12.

“It’s fantastic, we’re made up,” said Simon.

“It gave us something to focus on. We did it 100 per cent together all the time.

“When you’ve been through times like this you think about it constantly. It was the longest time of your life.”

The couple, who both work for Firstsource call centre in Warrington, say their new image has given them confidence and a fresh start.

Simon said: “It has given us a new lease of life.

“When you’re bigger you can only get clothes in a little corner of a shop. Now we can buy whatever we want and wear light colours instead of black which you hide behind because you’re self conscious.”

Simon who was 19 stone and had a 48 inch waist is now 13 and a half stone and wears 34 inch trousers.

Rea was almost 19 stone and has gone down from a size 24 to 14 and 12 stone.

Their success also earned them the title Slimming World woman and man of the year at Moorfield Sports and Social Club. “Everyone was so friendly it was more like a family.

“You have to put the effort in but it can change your life.”