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
TERRIFIED TEACHER TALKED MURDERER OUT OF STRANGLING HER

A teacher has told how she was attacked by a murderer on her way home from a night out but courageously managed to charm him out of strangling her .

THE INCREDIBLE BEAUTY OF ICELAND’S ICE CAVES

A stunning ice cave in Iceland is illuminated by sunlight as the bright blue ice appears glow inside .

HYENA HAS THE LAST LAUGH

This brave Hyena finally catches his pray among the thousands of flamingos, Lake Nakuru, Kenya - OUTNUMBERED among thousands of flamingos, this bold hyena is not put off from hunting for a morning snack .

SCULPTURES THAT WILL LEAF YOU SPEECHLESS

GIANT garden sculptures don't beat about the bush .

CALIFORNIAN GHOST TOWN OF BODIE HILLS FROZEN IN TIME

An intrepid photographer travelled to the abandoned ghost town of Bodie in northern California to capture the historic buildings that are trapped in time .

ADORABLE DOLPHINS VISIT AUSTRALIAN BEACH FOR BREAKFAST

SWIMMING slowly towards the shore, a small group of bottlenose dolphins arrive for breakfast at a beach in Western Australia .

TEEN WITH 100s OF BIRTHMARKS BEATS BULLIES TO EMBRACE BEAUTY

A teenage girl nicknamed 'spotty dog' by school bullies has embraced the hundreds of birthmarks that cover her entire face and body .

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE BUG KIND

THIS alien-like bug would look more at home in outer-space but it can actually be found wriggling around here on Earth .

POPE MOBBED BY THOUSANDS OF WORSHIPPERS IN RIO

POPE MOBBED BY THOUSANDS OF WORSHIPPERS IN RIO - Thousands of worshippers gather to celebrate the Papal visit on Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro ,Brazil .

MAKING A SPLASH - GORILLA GOES APE IN WATER

While often referred to as the kings of the jungle, gorillas - for all their might - are notorious hydrophobes .

CROCODILE CAVE DIVING PENSIONER

THIS DANGER-mad female pensioner could be the oldest Brit to cage dive with CROCODILES .

SNOWHERE TO HIDE MY NUTS! RARE RED SQUIRRELS FROLIC IN THE SNOW

If you had to scrape the snow off your car this morning or slip-slide your way into work over icy pavements spare a thought for these little critters .