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
STUNNING WINTER PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE HIGHEST RAILWAY IN THE ALPS
ROLLING across a 65-metre-high viaduct in the Alps, the red carriages of the Bernina Express add a splash of colour to the spectacular snow-covered Swiss surroundings .
GRAND PRIX-INSPIRED ESPRESSO MACHINE
This may look like a monster car engine that will leave petrol heads in a spin, but it is in fact a rather snazzy looking COFFEE MACHINE .
GAME OF THRONES FAN IS JON SNOW'S DOPPELGANGER
A psychology student from California looks so much like Game of Thrones' Jon Snow that he is mobbed by fans of the fantasy show .
OPEN WIDE! MONKEY GIVES FRIEND AN UNEXPECTED DENTAL CHECK-UP
This cheeky macaque gets up close and personal as he examines the dental hygiene of his fellow primate .
CHINESE FISHERMEN FISHING WITH RARE TECHNIQUE
SAILING peacefully across a river in the early morning light, a fisherman in China keeps a 1000 year old tradition alive .
CUTE MINI LION
MEET the little lion of suburbia with a mane that makes him look like a mini-king of the jungle .
AN OTTER-ONE BITES THE DUST
Throwing a right hook as he launches onto his opponent with his gnarling teeth at the ready, this is the OTTER-LY ruthless showdown between two otters .
MICK JAGGER'S LUXURY GLASTO YURT
FEAST your eyes onthe £3K luxury yurts that rock legend Mick Jagger will be basking in between Glastonbury performances this weekend .
ADORABLE HARVEST MOUSE CLIMBS DANDELION
Surveying its surroundings, a tiny harvest mouse climbs the stem of a dandelion .
BEAR CUBS AND DOTING MUM
A little brown bear cub shows his doting mum that she is always on parent duty as he uses her as a scratching post .
INTIMATE PORTRAITS OF INDIANS
An Italian photographer travelled to northern India where he visited poverty stricken suburbs and captured ordinary people in a series of intimate and expressive portraits .
MOODY SEA TURTLE
PUSHING the diver out of his way, this little sea turtle shows he’s not in the mood for photographs .