I LOST HALF MY WEIGHT AND BECAME A WOMAN
Pinning a purple flower into her bleach blonde hair, pretty Ava admired herself in the mirror. She had every reason to be proud. In the space of a year, she had lost an incredible 17 stone. Her weight dropped from 37st 1lbs to 19st 7lbs, and she slipped into a dress before gazing at her newly svelte figure. With her smokey eye makeup and black skater dress, she could have been glamming up for a night on the tiles with her girlfriends. Instead, it was Halloween, 2013, and Ava was hiding a huge secret. Born a boy named William, it was the first time she had ever dressed as a girl – and everything fell into place.
Other great stories
BRITAIN'S LOST MILITARY HOSPITAL
WELCOME to all that remains of Britain's once state-of-the-art military hospital where plastic surgery was pioneered for injured WW1 troops who survived the SOMME .
GLOWWORMS LIGHT UP TOURIST TRAIL
IN a galaxy not so far away lies a magical display of lights that could be the latest image from NASA .
STRIPED MARLIN SPEARS ITS CATCH
A striped marlin means business as it spots lunch and spears a small fish .
AMAZING AURORA BOREALIS
A GLOWING range of greens and blues sweep across the sky in a spectacular display of light .
CHEEKY GORILLA
A cheeky gorilla sticks her tongue out and plays up for the camera at Bronx Zoo .
DIVERS EXPLORE UNDERWATER CANYON WITH 100M VISIBILITY
A diver explores the crystal clear waters of the Silfra canyon in southern Iceland, which is the only place on Earth where you can dive or snorkel between two continental plates .
DIGIT-AL ART: HANDY COLLECTION UNVEILED
Here's a collection of art for the DIGIT-AL age as these fascinating illusions of landmarks, places and even a banana are made using just a pair of hands .
WOMAN OVERCOMES THIGH GAP OBSESSION AND BEATS ANOREXIA
A university graduate who was obsessed with achieving a thigh gap has told how she shrunk to just 6st after developing anorexia athletica .
UNDERWATER DIVERS FEED TIGER SHARKS
SOME OF the sea’s most terrifying creatures show their softer side as they join a group of diners for lunch .
WORLD'S CRAZIEST BEARDS
CRAZY BEARDS come into their GROWN when they've been twisted and waxed into shape .
CAGE -FIGHTER BF FRACTURED MY EYE SOCKET, NOSE, BIT MY FACE AND FORCED ME TO MAKE HIM A SAUSAGE SARNIE AT KNIFEPOINT
After Leigh Hancock, 36, joined Fallon Bramall's boxing gym she owned with her husband, the pair took him under their wing .
COLOURFUL KINGFISHERS DIVE FOR THEIR DINNER
A kingfisher’s bright blue and orange feathers glisten in the sunlight as the bird dives into a lake .