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
VICTIM SLAMS SENTENCE AS THUG WALKS FREE FROM COURT
A woman brutally beaten in a revenge attack has slammed the soft sentence handed to her assailant .
ABANDONED CARE HOME LIES FORGOTTEN
BEHIND the doors of this building, with its stacks of mattresses and discarded remains of wheelchairs, lies another victim of austerity cuts .
SCHOOL BULLIES WON'T STOP BIRTHMARK TEEN'S HOLLYWOOD DREAM
A teenager bullied for having birthmarks all over her body now hopes to become a Hollywood actress to show girls that beauty comes from being unique .
BIRD FISHING
DIVING down at a speed of 75mph, this is the moment a hungry osprey caught his prey .
WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS DIVE
Standing on the edge of a never-ending black hole, this is one leap you wouldn't want to make .
LONDON 2012: FUNNY OLYMPIC BAGS SAY 'THEY'RE ALL ON STEROIDS
While the various controversies rumble on regarding transport, security issues and overly-officious copyright enforcement, a couple of designers is saying what we're all thinking about the Olympics - and putting it on bags .
DOG WHO HAD HER EYES GOUGED OUT FINDS LOVING HOME IN THE UK
An adorable rescue dog who had her eyes gouged out by thugs in Romania has found a loving home in the UK .
OKLAHOMA TORNADO
Destroyed buildings and overturned cars are seen after a huge tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, near Oklahoma City, May 20, 2013 .
MYSTERY OF THE CROOKED COTTAGE
THIS is the fascinating abandoned house, complete with mystery portraits and homely items, that has been dubbed - crooked cottage .
AIR OF THE DOG: HILARIOUS FLYING POOCHES
FLYING through the air, these delighted pooches pull their best poses mid-flight .
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: SWIMMING WITH SHARKS
Armed with a snorkel, flippers and her skimpy bikini, an intrepid female free diver swims alongside an array of reef sharks .
ELECTROSENSITIVITY: USING AN IPAD COULD MAKE ME MISCARRY AGAIN
A mother-to be has told how she cannot go near an iPad in case she suffers another miscarriage due to her intense sensitivity to electromagnetic waves .