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
BABY BEARS COPY FIGHTING ADULTS

SITTING quietly at the edge of the lake, these two baby bears watch and learn as the adults hunt for fish .

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 .

UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP

A brave cricket takes his chances as he sits on top of this green papua tree frog .

ARTIST NAILS IT- BEAUTIFUL PORTRAITS CREATED FROM NAILS

An artist has NAILED IT by creating beautiful and perfectly precise artwork using a hammer and 30,000 nails .

GREAT-GRANDMA SPLASHES £48K ON FAKE BABY COLLECTION

A retired foster carer has spent a whopping £48k on her brood of lifelike dolls .

PAWS FOR THOUGHT: POLAR BEAR RELAXES IN SNOW

STARING intently into the camera, a polar bear appears to be lost in thought while relaxing in the snow .

HMS ARK ROYAL ARRIVES AT SHIP GRAVEYARD- LANGUISHING

HMS Ark Royal arrives in the Turkish port of Aliaga at the ship scrapping firm Leyal’s yard .

I FLED TO AUSTRALIA AFTER HOUSE TORCHED BY ONE-NIGHT

A woman has told how she fled to Australia, after a one night stand burned down her house .

DOG WITH A BONE

A puppy bit off more than he could chew when he stole a six inch Chinese spare rib from his owner and swallowed it WHOLE, Cheeky Staffordshire bull terrier Rossi had his life SPARED when he underwent a life-saving operation to remove the bone from his stomach after swiping part of the takeaway meal .

FOUR-YEAR-OLD TWIN BOY BELIEVES HE'S A GIRL

A mum from Gloucestershire has accepted her four-year-old twin son’s decision to live full time as a girl - and is now letting him wear a skirt to school .

ET PHONE THIS NUMBER: UK'S FIRST HOTLINE FOR ALIEN ABDUCTEES

The UK's first hotline - and possibly the galaxy's - for people who have been targeted by aliens has opened to the public .

IT'S RAINING DOGS

WITH THE WIND blowing through their fur, you'll believe a dog can fly in these hilarious images .