A TEENAGER who beat cancer while battling to lose weight is setting up her own slimming group to inspire others.

Jessie Muffett, 19, of Galley Hill, near Waltham Abbey, was diagnosed with leukaemia at 14, while she was two stone overweight.

Doctors told her the drugs she would need to fight the cancer would make her hungry, so she was at risk of gaining more, but she was determined to lose the weight and is now a slim size eight.

“It's given me so much confidence to do the things I had never done before,” she said. “My personality has changed and I wanted other people to feel that way and to know that even if they're on medication, they can have some sort of control over their lives.”

Her parents, Angie and Gary Muffett, started groups with Slimming World after their daughter's experience.

Miss Muffett's group, which will run at the E4 Fitness Centre in Highams Park, starts on September 29, just before her wedding to fiance Thomas Pigg.

“It's going to be an ironic surname for a Slimming World consultant,” she said. “I've known Thomas as a friend since I was 14 and he was there through all the treatment.”

She will hold her slimming meetings on Wednesdays at 7.30pm and anyone interested in joining can call her on 07581 876710.