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I was given just one week to live after doctors found a tumour that had been silently lurking in my brain for a DECADE

A MUM was given just a week to live after doctors found a tumour that had been silently lurking in her brain for more than a decade.

Harriet Annabelle Ward occasionally felt dizzy and tired but put her minor symptoms down to stress.

Portrait of Harriet Annabelle Ward.
Jam Press
Harriet Annabelle Ward, who was diagnosed brain a decade-old brain tumour[/caption]
MRI scan of a brain tumor.
Jam Press
A brain show showing the meningioma, which had been lurking silently[/caption]

But for 10 years, a meningioma had slowly been growing in the left side of her head.

The 51-year-old had even been examined in hospital two years before her diagnosis, but doctors missed any signs of the tumour.

Generally, Harriet was relatively active and healthy, and it wasn’t until her health declined dramatically in 2021, when she clocked something serious might be wrong.

She started struggling to form complex sentences, felt exhausted all the time, was often dizzy, and had headaches and a bloodshot eye.

Harriet visited her GP surgery three times, with medics each time putting her symptoms down to stress.

But after huge bouts of memory loss and calling NHS 111, she was rushed to A&E, where an MRI scan uncovered the terrifying truth.

“They told me they had found a 2.8in (7cm) brain tumour across the left side of my head,” the singer, from Bristol, said.

“If untreated, they said I would have died in my sleep. My brain was completely gone.

“I was in shock, but I was very focused on what they were going to do and hoping it would all go well.

“I was at a point where the pressure of the brain tumour was so severe that I couldn’t think or talk properly.

“But I was very driven to still be here and survive.

“I was very friendly and active before this, so I just wanted to get well and go home.”

Harriet was diagnosed with a grade two meningioma – the most common type of brain tumour – which had “likely been growing inside her for 10 to 15 years”.

Meningiomas affect around one in 40,000 people in the UK every year.

The survival rate depends on several factors, but ranges from 25 to 95 per cent.

Harriet’s husband says he was told his wife had just one week to live.

The only way to save her life, doctors said, was emergency surgery to remove the growth.

Harriet’s children were aged five, 10 and 15 at the time, and the mum was terrified that she might not live to see them grow up.

I was dying to see my children. I felt they would be lost without me, so I knew I needed to get through this

Harriet Annabelle Ward

“The doctors weren’t sure I’d make it,” the mum-of-three said.

“I was calling all my friends and family, telling them how much I loved them, and my husband Christopher had sign all the death forms.

“Before doctors put me to sleep, I looked into the eyes of one of them and said, ‘I’d love to see my children again’.”

Luckily, her wish was granted, and she woke up from the “absolutely incredible” 14-hour procedure on December 1, 2021, to find out it had been a success.

She was left with a heavily swollen left side of her face from the bruising and trauma to the area.

Harriet said: “I never took photos until a few weeks post-op as I was black and blue.

“I looked swollen where they cut from ear to ear. I was in shock.”

Close-up of a woman's face showing post-operative swelling and bruising.
Jam Press
The mum’s swelling after her life-saving surgery[/caption]
Family portrait in front of a building.
Jam Press
Annabelle with her husband Christopher and children Amaryllis, Islah and Noah[/caption]
Woman in pink top and bucket hat sitting in a leather armchair.
Harriet says she’s made a miracle recovery to watch her kids grow up
Jam Press

Since the operation in November 2021, Harriet has been slowly recovering at home with her family.

She said of her ordeal: “I was dying to see my children, Amaryllis, Islah and Noah.

“They visited me in hospital and I was desperately wanting to be at home with them.

“I felt they would be lost without me, so I knew I needed to get through this.

“It’s been a hell of a journey, but every day it’s incredible to be here with my family.”

The near-miss inspired her to record an album, called Bristol Music World 2024, together with 22 other artists, to help raise money for Southmead Hospital, where she was treated.

Harriet added: “My music keeps me happy, healthy and is very healing.”

The most common symptoms of a brain tumour

More than 12,000 Brits are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour every year — of which around half are cancerous — with 5,300 losing their lives.

The disease is the most deadly cancer in children and adults aged under 40, according to the Brain Tumour Charity.

Brain tumours reduce life expectancies by an average of 27 years, with just 12 per cent of adults surviving five years after diagnosis.

There are two main types, with non-cancerous benign tumours growing more slowly and being less likely to return after treatment.

Cancerous malignant brain tumours can either start in the brain or spread there from elsewhere in the body and are more likely to return.

Brain tumours can cause headachesseizuresnausea, vomiting and memory problems, according to the NHS.

They can also lead to changes in personality weakness or paralysis on one side of the problem and problems with speech or vision.

The nine most common symptoms are:

  1. Headaches
  2. Seizures
  3. Feeling sick
  4. Being sick
  5. Memory problems
  6. Change in personality
  7. Weakness or paralysis on one side of the body
  8. Vision problems
  9. Speech problems

If you are suffering any of these symptoms, particularly a headache that feels different from the ones you normally get, you should visit your GP.

Source: NHS

Portrait of a woman wearing a beige beret.
Jam Press
‘It’s been a hell of a journey,’ Harriet said[/caption]
Close-up of a woman's face showing post-operative swelling.
Jam Press
The mum’s swelling following her 14-hour operation[/caption]
Radiation mask for radiotherapy treatment.
Part of Harriet’s brain tumour treatment
Jam Press
Post-operative scar on a woman's head.
Jam Press
Before doctors put her to sleep, Harriet said to them: ‘I’d love to see my children again’[/caption]
Woman ringing a hospital treatment bell.
Jam Press
The singer ringing the end-of-treatment bell[/caption]
A mother and her two daughters smiling for a photo.
Jam Press
Harriet, from Bristol, with daughters Amaryllis and Islah[/caption]
A couple poses for a selfie in front of a Hogwarts sign.
Jam Press
The near-miss inspired her to record an album to raise money for Southmead Hospital[/caption]

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I fled cushy UK life to fight ISIS thugs in Syria – I’m haunted by smell of death & babies being used as human shields

IT WAS the image of British ISIS fighter Jihadi John wielding a knife and executing terrified hostages as they kneeled before him that changed Macer Gifford’s life forever.

Watching the horror unleashed by the Islamic State unfold across Syria made the 27-year-old London banker quit his job, leave his girlfriend and travel 3,000 miles to join the fight against the terrorists. 

A man in camouflage pants sits in a damaged room with a machine gun leaning against the wall.
Getty - Contributor
Macer Gifford, originally from Cambridgeshire, pictured in Raqqa[/caption]
A British volunteer fighter with a rifle in a damaged building in Raqqa, Syria.
Getty - Contributor
Macer walks through an abandoned house as he locates a spot to fire his sniper rifle toward ISIS positions in Raqqa[/caption]
Macer Gifford, a British man who fought with the Kurds against ISIS in Syria, poses for a photo.
Macer fought with the Kurds against ISIS in Syria
Masked militant holding a knife.
AFP
Macer went to Syria after seeing this infamous picture of Jihadi John on television[/caption]

He would spend the next three years chasing ISIS out of villages across the wartorn nation, culminating with six weeks of sheer hell fighting in the streets of Raqqa. 

It was here that Macer watched the jihadists use babies as human shields, massacre civilians waving white flags and blow up his comrades in car bombings.

The ex-banker still remembers the “smell of death” hovering over the destroyed city of Raqqa and the constant sound of bullets filling the air followed by the piercing cries of grief.

Raqqa’s scarred streets were a far cry from where Macer had grown up in rural Cambridgeshire with his two brothers or central London where he later worked as a currency trader. 

The former public schoolboy would spend his days speaking to high-profile clients and selling currency before going home to his flat in the leafy borough of Battersea. 

Macer, not his real name, would live for the weekend and go on as many holidays as his annual leave would allow with his girlfriend.

But it was spending those 40 minutes every morning reading newspapers to advise clients about the foreign markets that brought Macer face to face with what he describes as “pure evil”.

Macer told The Sun: “Every single day, we were being bombarded with images from ISIS for the first time. 

“These brainless, evil people in the Middle East could reach into everyone’s homes in Britain and America, on their TV screens and in newspapers – right up to the President of the United States.”

He couldn’t unsee the images of hostages being burned alive in cages, others being flung to their deaths from buildings, or the videos of ISIS fighters joking about raping girls and trading them for guns.

And he still remembers the sheer horror he felt when he watched a sneering Jihadi John, the Islamic State’s most notorious executioner, behead his victims.

“I remember seeing the brave faces of the hostages with Jihadi John standing behind them as they read their last statements before they were killed and I felt for their families,” Macer said. 

It was 2014 and Macer knew he had to do something to help – and that called for drastic action. 

He’d been toying with the idea of entering politics and becoming a Tory councillor, but with the daily onslaught of horrors unfolding in Syria, Macer decided to pick up a gun instead. 

In the weeks that followed, Macer quit his comfortable banking job in the City, pulled out from buying a house and broke up with his girlfriend.

Macer lied to his parents – his one regret – and told them he was going to Turkey to do some humanitarian work. 

But in reality, he was travelling 3,000 miles to fight ISIS jihadists alongside the Kurds in Syria – all without any military experience. 

“I was basically throwing myself into the deep end,” Macer admits, saying that his only experience of army life was being in the cadets at school. 

Rather than ringing in 2015 with his family in Cambridgeshire, he was toasting the New Year in the mountains of Syria with rebel fighters. 

The first few months in Syria were “pretty boring”, Macer says, with his days spent being trained up by fellow foreign fighters from Britain and America. 

And then it all changed. 

While his banker friends were enjoying a “brilliant” life in London, Macer and thousands of other Kurds were fighting in the alleyways of towns and cities across Syria. 

But it was when they reached the ISIS capital Raqqa in 2017 where the fighting became relentless, with hundreds of Macer’s comrades dying on a weekly basis for six months. 

Macer Gifford, a British man who fought with the Kurds against ISIS in Syria.
Rather than ringing in 2015 with his family in Cambridgeshire, Macer was toasting the New Year in the mountains of Syria with rebel fighters
A former banker with two Syrian soldiers.
Facebook /Macer Gifford
Macer Gifford, pictured with Kurdish fighters, left his life behind in the UK to oust ISIS[/caption]
Syrian Kurdish militia firing guns in Raqqa.
Alamy
Fighters of the People’s Protection Units, a mainly-Kurdish militia in Syria, fire towards ISIS militants[/caption]
Syrian Democratic Forces sniper aiming rifle through wall.
Reuters
A sniper of the Syrian Democratic Forces aims his weapon in Raqqa[/caption]
Drone footage of damaged buildings in Raqqa, Syria.
AP:Associated Press
Damaged buildings in Raqqa two days after Syrian Democratic Forces ousted ISIS[/caption]

Raqqa was ISIS’s epicentre – and where Macer had watched with horror as Jihadi John and other ISIS terrorists executed prisoners years earlier. 

But now, he was there to fight against the terrorist thugs. 

He said: “Raqqa was horrendous. It was a city that became almost completely destroyed by the end of the operation to liberate it. 

“The city was held by a lot of fanatical ISIS supporters that were determined to keep it at whatever cost – and they were willing to die for it.” 

Brutal street battles followed between ISIS fighters and the 20,000 Kurdish fighters who were supported by the US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab forces. 

“It was street to street fighting, alleyway to alleyway, stairwell to stairwell – and the city around us was slowly being destroyed,” Macer said. 

“Every day there were cars filled with bombs that would race towards our positions and it would give us just a couple of minutes to destroy them. 

“The amount of close calls we had where a car bomb would be coming down the street and an American F-16 fighter jet would come in and blow it up with a missile.”

But there were other times they weren’t so lucky. 

Macer said: “It wasn’t unusual to see 20 or 30 guys killed or injured from these massive explosions. 

“The Islamic State had already pre-built these suicide vehicles and they’d knocked down the walls of houses and used them as makeshift garages. 

“And from the air, all the Americans could see was a house so they had no evidence of anything inside so they wouldn’t bomb it. 

“It was only when we drew close to them and were 500 metres away that a suicide bomber would get inside the vehicle, turn it on, and then pull it out of the house and race towards us.”

Macer will never forget the horrors he witnessed and the scenes of utter despair.

Prisons where chains on the walls showed where hundreds had been tortured and killed, bodies of civilians and his friends amongst the rubble. 

He remembers a mission where his team were tasked with finding Yazidi women who had been forced into being sex slaves for ISIS fighters. 

“We were hoping that there were still women there at this brothel,” Macer says. 

But they were too late. ISIS had moved the women just hours before. 

Macer said: “All we found were dirty mattresses and chains on the floor. 

“The women had been writing on the war and it was just a moment of complete despair for us all because we had so hoped to get to them and set them free.”

To this day, there are still thousands of Yazidi girls missing and presumed dead – or still being held prisoner by  ISIS terrorists’ in the deserts of Syria and Iraq where the Islamic State fled. 

The civilians living in Raqqa also became target practice for ISIS snipers. 

“The civilians would come out of buildings waving white flights and calling for the Kurds to rescue them,” Macer recalls. 

“But that went against everything that ISIS stood for. They saw these people as traitors, so they began to shoot at them and they began to target them in suicide bombings.

Islamic State militants marching in formation.
AP:Associated Press
ISIS fighters receiving military training in the eastern Syrian province of Deir el-Zour[/caption]
Kurdish YPG fighters running in Raqqa, Syria.
Reuters
Kurdish fighters from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) run across a street in Raqqa[/caption]
A crying woman holds a baby close.
EPA
ISIS militants ruled Raqqa for years, leaving a trail of carnage[/caption]
A man carries an injured girl who is hooked up to an IV.  Two soldiers stand behind them.
Getty - Contributor
A member of th Syrian Democratic Forces holds an girl injured by a mine in Raqqa city[/caption]
Syrian Democratic Forces in Raqqa, Syria, after the liberation of the city.
AP:Associated Press
Members of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in Raqqa after ‘total liberation’[/caption]

“ISIS were wasting quite crucial infrastructure and weapons to kill the civilian.

“And the reason they were willing to do that was because it set an example to the rest of the people in the city that they wouldn’t tolerate any form of surrender or cooperation with the opposition.

“After a few months, the smell of death hovered over the city. The threat of Islamic State ambushes, of IEDs, was constant.

“We lost a lot of good people on missions where we would be pushing through the streets and we’d be ambushed.

“Other times, I saw young people who were fighting alongside us peering out of windows when they heard noises outside and being shot by snipers.”

His voice quiet, Macer added: “We lost a lot of friends in the city. I’m the only survivor in the team of foreigners that came to fight in Raqqa.”

Macer’s last mission in Syria was the battle for a hospital in central Raqqa, which had become the stronghold for the Islamic State in the city. 

His team were ambushed on a road nearby and Macer watched his commander and another soldier shot dead by ISIS fighters. 

He was hit by shrapnel from from a ricocheted bullet and fell to the ground.

“I crawled off the road and turned to engage the ISIS fighters that were shooting off us and I rushed off the road. I hadn’t even notice I’d been hit really, my mind went into a blur,” Macer says.

“I could hear the snap of the bullets as they cracked around my head.”

And what followed was what Macer can only describe as “24 hours of hell”. 

“We came under this sustained attack with no food and no water for 24 hours,” he said.

It was only the intervention of the Americans as they bombed the area and destroyed the ISIS positions that saved their lives, Macer says.

A soldier standing on sandbags with a flag in the background.
Facebook /Macer Gifford
Macer refused to leave Syria until ISIS had been defeated[/caption]
A Syrian Democratic Forces fighter stands amidst the rubble of destroyed buildings in Raqqa, Syria.
Reuters
A fighter from Syrian Democratic Forces stands next to debris of damaged buildings in Raqqa in 2017[/caption]
Syrian Democratic Forces fighters on an armored vehicle in Raqqa, Syria.
Reuters
Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces pictured after Raqqa was liberated from ISIS[/caption]
Arab and Kurdish fighters in a truck.
AP:Associated Press
Arab and Kurdish fighters with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in 2017[/caption]

From there, Macer and his team fought ISIS fighters at the hospital in bloody battles.

The former banker would fire at snipers hiding near windows with his sniper rifles and blast RPGs through the openings. 

“And then one day, the radio started blaring after the third day and they said stop firing at the hospital,” Macer said. 

The sound of cracking bullets and explosions stopped instantly.

But when Macer looked out at the hospital from his bombed out building, he was horrified by what he was seeing. 

“We turned and there was an Islamic State fighter holding a baby out of the window,” Macer says, shaking his head at the memory. 

“The message was clear: We’ve got children and civilians in here, stop shooting at us.” 

And then the fighting stopped. 

After six months of brutal fighting against ISIS in Raqqa, the city was finally liberated in October 2017 and Macer watched the terrorists limp out of the city, broken and destroyed. 

“One day, the Islamic State surrendered and we were asked not to shoot at them when they eventually left the city,” he says.

“It was a moment of relief, because for the first time I realised that the battle for Raqqa was over. 

“And there was a feeling of satisfaction because I saw the Islamic State fighters limping to these buses that they’d provided for them and they drove into the desert where they’d eventually be hunted down and killed anyway.”  

He said: “Finally, people were out in the streets, women were taking of their burqas that they’d been forced to wear and you could openly play music and be yourself for the first time.”

For Macer, watching ISIS surrender in Raqqa was the end of the war for him. 

“For three years I’d been fighting ISIS and given up my life, and it was, as far as I was concerned, completely over for me,” Macer says. 

“I’d begun to lose my fear – and the moment you lose your fear, you no longer duck when you hear things and you no longer hide and instead you want to go out and keep fighting.

“But I realised I was going down the wrong path, so I was very grateful that the war came to an end for me when Islamic State fled Raqqa.” 

By the end of the fight against ISIS, 12,000 Kurds would die fighting and around 100,000 terrorists were killed. 

“And when ISIS were finally defeated, there were more than 100,000 prisoners – even to this day – sitting in camps, the most famous from Britain being Shamima Begum,” Macer says.

He decided to finally go home to his family – but that wasn’t the last time Macer would pick up a uniform. 

Syrian Democratic Forces fighters giving the "V" sign on a balcony.
Reuters
Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces gesture the “V” sign at the frontline in Raqqa in October 16, 2017[/caption]
A group of Ukrainian soldiers posing for a selfie near Kherson.
Chris Eades
Macer pictured in Ukraine with other fighters[/caption]
Ukrainian soldiers near Kherson.
Chris Eades
Macer spent months with Ukraine’s 131st Separate Reconnaissance Battalion[/caption]

Macer went on to fight against Vladimir Putin’s forces with foreign volunteer forces in Ukraine in 2022, helping to liberate the city of Kherson. 

He spent months with Ukraine’s 131st Separate Reconnaissance Battalion, gathering intel, finding minefields and clearing treelines to make way for Kyiv’s forces. 

After months fighting, he came home again to be close to his dad, who had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. But within weeks of arriving back in the UK, Macer’s father passed away. 

Macer is now looking towards the future and after seeing the Syrian rebels run Assad and his brutal forces out of the country is planning on going back to a country he still holds close to his heart. 

He’d seen the defeat of ISIS in Raqqa in 2017 as a moment of change for Syria – but it was squandered with the country engulfed in a brutal civil war that would leave millions dead. 

Now, after seven years, there’s another transformative moment in Syria’s history with the HTS rebels defeating dictator Assad who fled to Putin’s Russia

But Macer fears that the HTS rebels might not be able to reform Syria. 

“My fear for Syria is that the civil war will continue, that the rebels in Damascus, the Turkish rebels in the North and the Kurds that lead the SDF will start fighting amongst themselves to try and create one winner at the end of this.” 

And Macer says that could risk the emergence of ISIS in Syria, with the terrorists taking advantage of any more chaos.

But Macer still has hope that Syria can rebuild after Assad’s regime collapsed – and the answer lies with the West supporting locals on the ground who want a better future for the country.

Map of Syria showing control areas of different groups after Assad's fall.

EXCLUSIVE: ISIS plotting wave of terror from camps, warns general who defeated cult

By Henry Holloway, Deputy Foreign Editor

ISIS could unleash a new wave of terror by springing fighters from camps like the one holding Shamima Begum, a top general who helped defeat the death cult has revealed.

General Mazloum Abdi, who leads the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – a Kurdish-led US-backed militia, sounded the alarm over the resurgent terror group.

Speaking to The Sun in an interview with documentarian and ex-soldier Alan Duncan, Abdi said there are currently 10,000 male fighters in prisons ready to bring devastation back to the Middle East.

General Abdi revealed SDF believe that ISIS forces – which were bravely driven back by his troops – are currently organising a prisonbreak of fighters still held in Syria.

He also warned the threat of ISIS continues in the West.

General Abdi said: “The threat of jihadist groups – not just ISIS – will exist until the fundamentals they were founded on are destroyed.

“We must continue our struggle.”

He also called on the West to do more to bring these fighters to justice – and to support trials and convictions for the atrocities they committed in the Middle East.

General Abdi told The Sun: “The threat of ISIS in detention centres and camps is increasing and there is an increase in the movement of ISIS in general.

“There is a need to intensify efforts to continue to fight against ISIS if we don’t want to see a resurgence.”

READ MORE HERE

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Secret to how Kate Middleton keeps her 20-inch glossy mane split ends-free, according to a hairdresser

THE Princess of Wales rarely has a hair out of place when she steps out for an engagement, and it’s all thanks to a simple hack that anyone can try.

On Monday, Kate paid her respects during the commemorations marking Holocaust Memorial Day alongside her husband, Prince William.

The Princess of Wales visiting a textile manufacturer.
PA
The Princess of Wales visiting a textile manufacturer in January[/caption]
The Princess of Wales visiting a textile manufacturer.
PA
She looked elegant as her long 20-inch locks blew in the wind[/caption]

She looked effortlessly chic, wearing a tailored long blazer coat, trousers, and a five-strand pearl necklace.

However, it was her immaculate hair that added the finishing touch to her elegant look.

Michael Gray, a multi-award-winning hairstylist, has revealed the secret tricks behind the bouncy blow-dry look that Kate is known for.

He explained that many people still forget the importance of having regular haircuts every eight weeks, even when growing their hair.

This, he says, ensures that hair stays “lovely, long, and healthy.”

Speaking to Hello! Magazine, he said: “[It’s important to] take off the very ends to maintain your hair’s health.

“During certain moments in women’s lives, hair changes, even when they reach their 40s.”

Michael emphasised that regular trims will not stop you from growing your hair and that it’s still possible to maintain “long, luscious hair like Princess Kate.”

He also recommends using stimulating hair products, which he believes are part of Kate’s hair care routine.

Michael suggests using the Nioxin hair range to achieve healthy locks.

He highlights the Scalp and Hair Thickening System 1 Shampoo for Natural Hair with Light Thinning (300ml), which is currently priced at £18.80 on LookFantastic.

This shampoo lathers onto the scalp to remove impurities and excess oil, creating the optimal scalp environment to promote thicker, stronger, and more resilient-looking hair.

Additionally, he recommends the Living Proof Scalp Care Density Serum, available from Cult Beauty for £54.

Finally, Michael suggests incorporating hair growth and strengthening supplements into your routine, such as Perfectil.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, smiling in a blue dress.
It is clear that Kate has always looked after her hair
The Mega Agency

Professional hairstylist Tom Pike has also noted that Kate has recently “upgraded” her hairstyle to the ‘Hollywood wave.’

Speaking to Hello! magazine, he explained: “To achieve this, you would use either a smoothing cream or a good blow-dry spray.

“Blow-dry your hair smooth, then, using a large barrel wand, twist the hair around the tool, taking slightly thicker sections as you work. Once this is done, gently brush it out.”

Kate Middleton's 'Youthful' Eyebrow Trick

AMY Bates, make-up artist and founder of thebeautyrebellion.co.uk shares how Kate Middleton's beauty tricks...

Many people experience eyebrow thinning as they get older – but Kate’s have done the opposite.

The Princess opts for a fuller look, which gives her a more youthful appearance.

Amy Bates, hair stylist, make-up artist and founder of thebeautyrebellion.co.uk, says: “If you have lines and wrinkles under the eye, the right brows can draw attention away from that area and make it less noticeable.

“In her younger years, Kate’s brows were thin and heavily plucked but now they are growing back thicker.

“I imagine a specialist has helped her using a technique such as HD Brows, where the natural brows are tinted and shaped.”

And she also appears to have ditched harsher eyeliner too.

Amy says: “Kate is still wearing eyeliner but it is much softer and not too dark. She now prefers smoky brown and bronze hues, which are more flattering.

“Thick lines can make people look older and Kate understands this.”

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The Chase star Mark Labbett shows off incredible 10st weight loss as he shares mirror selfie of slimmed-down frame

THE Chase star Mark Labbett shares mirror selfie showing off his incredible 10 st weight loss.

The 59-year old now looks completely different from how fans may once remember him from the ITV’s hit game show.

Mark Labbett in a mirror selfie, showing off weight loss.
The Chase star Mark Labbett shows off incredible 10st weight loss
Instagram
Mark Labbett.
Instagram
The 6ft 6 height and thinner body is plain to see as he shares transformation photos[/caption]

The TV personality took to Instagram Stories to show off his slimmed-down frame in a mirror selfie.

Mark looked dapper in a classic suit and tie as he posed side on accentuating his slender figure.

The 6ft 6 height and thinner body is plain to see as he shares transformation photos.

The quizmaster is dubbed ‘The Beast’ on game show that’s fronted by Bradley Walsh was known for his bigger frame has spoken about how he lost so much weight through just diet and exercise.

Before finding fame Mark lived his life as a Math teacher where he weighed 29 st according to The Daily Record, he then joined the cast of The Chase in 2009.

His weight loss journey accelerated when Covid hit and the dad-of-one lost a staggering amount of weight when he had to keep up with the boundless energy of his young child whilst nurseries were closed.

Labbett underwent went what he called a “complete nutrition overhaul” marked by a significant shift in his diet that involved cutting out sugar and carbs.

Medical experts had also warned of the risks associated with gastric band surgery due to his type 2 diabetes leading him to choose a non-surgical approach instead.

Mark previously revealed he turned down I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2016, because he didn’t think the basic diet of rice and beans would be substantial enough for him.

Mark often shares pics of his weight loss on his social media, back in November last year he posted a snap of him and ex-wife Katie, 32.

They both looked unrecognisable from their time being married, having both lost weight and switching up their looks.

Navigating co-parenting like pros the pair spent a day at Warner Bros Studios to take in the Harry Potter tour with their son Lawrence.

Mark looked slender in a grey jumper and black trousers next to Katie, who cuddled up beside him in a black skirt and maroon jumper.

Mark and Katie, who are also second cousins, were together for seven years, but split when their attempts at an open marriage failed.

They first started speaking on Facebook in 2010, unaware of their familial connection.

Mark later admitted that Covid lockdown had a detrimental effect on his mental health, and amplified the pair’s 27-year age gap.

Despite the break-up, they are yet to officially get divorced, though both have gone on to other relationships.

Mark Labbett at the TV Choice Awards.
Alamy
Mark Labbett joined ITV show the chase back in 2009[/caption]
Mark Labbett and his ex-wife at the Natural History Museum.
Instagram/@markthebeastlabbett
Mark and ex-wife katie looked unrecognisable from their time being married having both lost weight[/caption]
Mark Labbett on the Loose Women TV show.
Rex
Labbett underwent went he called a “complete nutrition overhaul”[/caption]

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Sir Alex Ferguson was left traumatised by tackle so bad that Gareth Southgate apologised and left Man Utd stars ‘numb’

GARETH SOUTHGATE had to apologise to Sir Alex Fergurson after one his players injured a Manchester United star.

The incident occurred while the former England manager was in charge of Middlesbrough in 2008.

Sir Alex Ferguson, Carlos Queiroz, and Gareth Southgate watching a soccer match.
AFP
Sir Alex Ferguson was left fuming over the reaction to the red card[/caption]
Gareth Southgate, Middlesbrough manager.
PA:Press Association
Gareth Southgate was forced to apologise to Sir Alex following the horror tackle[/caption]
Rodrigo Possebon of Manchester United being fouled during a soccer match.
Getty
Rodrigo Possebon was on the receiving end of wayward challenge by Emmanuel Pogatetz[/caption]
Rodrigo Possebon of Manchester United receiving treatment for a leg injury on a stretcher.
Getty
Sir Alex said he was ‘numb’ in fear for Possebon[/caption]

United beat Boro 3-1 in a third round League Cup tie, but the win was overshadowed by the injury wonderkid Rodrigo Possebon sustained.

The Brazilian midfielder, who was making his first start for the Red Devils, was on the receiving end of a horror tackle from Emmanuel Pogatetz.

He was sent off but it did little to calm down a furious Sir Alex.

Ferguson revealed after the game that “everyone was numb” in fear for Possebon.

And the legendary boss was fuming over Boro players pleading it was not a red card, saying: “It was an absolutely terrible tackle.

“What gets me about challenges like that is that the opponent always claims he has done nothing wrong.

“Pogatetz should have just walked off the field.

“You get their bench screaming that it wasn’t a sending off and there is nothing wrong with our player.

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“At least Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate was very good about it. He apologised and understood the gravity.”

Possebon was fortunate to avoid a broken leg and Pogatetz also later apologised.

He said: “Firstly, I have to say that I went for the tackle because I thought I could win the ball. I now accept, however, that I misjudged the challenge.

“But now I that I have had the chance to see the tackle on television, I know the ref was right to send me off.

“I am going to speak to Rodrigo by telephone and I will apologise for hurting him. I hope that he will make a quick recovery and that he will not be out for long.”

Possebon went on to make eight appearances for Man Utd before returning to play in his homeland of Brazil.

He now works as a chief at Brazilian Serie A club Athletico Paranaense.

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I thought I scored my dream car for just £500 – only for seller to steal my money, run me OVER & take off with the motor

Collage of a man leaning on a car, with a photo of a similar car in the background.

A MAN was robbed of £500 and run over by a Gumtree seller when he went to collect a car, he claims.

Guy Field, 60, was driven to a residential car park in Bristol, where he was struck by the same Peugeot 208 he was hoping to buy.

Man leaning on a car hood, looking upset.
Neil Hope
Guy Field was run over by a Gumtree seller[/caption]
Photo of a dark-grey Peugeot 107.
Neil Hope
Guy had agreed to pay £500 for a Peugeot 208[/caption]
Smartphone displaying Gumtree ad for a Peugeot 208.
Neil Hope
Since the ordeal the same car has been re-advertised at a higher price[/caption]

He says after taking his cash, the seller jumped behind the wheel and drove off, hitting him square on and causing him to be flung over the bonnet and roof.

Guy told the Sun: “I can’t believe some muppet is willing to run me over for 500 quid. If I was dragged under the car for 50 yards I’d be dead.”

He’d travelled from his home in Launceston, Cornwall, on January 22 to see the vehicle and pay for it.

The seller had met him at Bristol Temple Meades station and insisted they go for a drive before pulling up in Fox Road around two miles away to complete the transaction.

They had initially agreed a price of £800 but Guy said he pointed out from doing a car check it was listed as a Category S write-off and would cost several hundred to fix.

The lower fee of £500 was then agreed.

However, after examining the logbook and then handing over the money in cash, Guy was just closing the bonnet when he said “it’s clicked with me”.

The seller was back behind the wheel “and he’s got a big cheesy smile on his face”, he said.

“I’m thinking, oh s***… It’s like when your life flashes before your eyes. It happens really fast, but it seems like a year.

“He absolutely floors the throttle, drops the clutch and runs me over.

“I went over the top of the car – across the bonnet, across the windscreen, across the roof and down the back, and there’s just loads of wheel spinning as he disappears.

Guy added: “I landed on my elbow, on my back, on my arse, then on my head.”

Disoriented, he took out his phone to call the police and asked someone walking past what street they were on.

Cops arrived “within a minute” and offered to take him to hospital, but facing a long journey home and having left his Labrador half the day, he asked to be taken to the station instead.

He said the officers told him: “You’re lucky you live in Cornwall because Bristol is the Wild West.”

On the way home on the train, Guy said he was “sat in the corner crying” and a woman came over to ask if he was okay.

The following day, he spotted the same car back for sale on Gumtree again.

Police have since confirmed the car has been recovered and “enquiries to identify the driver are ongoing”.


Do you know more or have a similar story? Email ryan.merrifield@thesun.co.uk


Guy said: “The point of it is, I’m a damn savvy dude, and if this can happen to me it can happen to anyone.

“These idiots keep spamming these ads and actively trying to rob people.”

He regularly buys and sells expensive items on Gumtree and says he’s annoyed the company hasn’t done more to help.

“I tried to ring Gumtree 50 times and eventually got through to their call centre in South Africa.

“They haven’t communicated with me, they haven’t said s***.”

He said in order to sell anything he has to verify his identity through a number of means.

He added: “These guys, I don’t know if they have burner phones. I assume they are really clever or really stupid, I assume they’re stupid.”

Guy explained he’s been going over all the details from the day in his mind since and recalls how he “smelled a rat” as soon as the seller rang him.

He said he was keen to change plans and meet at a different location rather than the station, and gave him a postcode, which he later realised was the residential car park they ended up at.

Guy had refused as he could hear other male voices speaking in the background.

“I was envisioning a load of other men turning up,” he said.

And then the seller was insistent on being paid in cash, asking him over and over during the short drive if he had money on him.

Guy continued: “He kept looking at me, he asked me how old I am before I got there… I think he was weighing up the whole time to attack me.”

He added: “I’m worried this kind of thing is happening all the time, but it’s not getting publicity.

“I’m 6ft1 and 18 stone but what if I was a young woman or a pensioner? This guy was willing to kill me for so little money.”

A spokesperson for Avon & Somerset Police said: “Officers are investigating after a man was struck with a car during in aggravated vehicle taking last week.

“The victim, who had attempted to purchase a vehicle from an online seller, had cash stolen and was struck by the vehicle which failed to stop in Fox Road, Easton, Bristol, at around 5.20pm on Wednesday 22 January.

“The vehicle has been recovered by police and enquiries to identify the driver are ongoing.

“If you witnessed the incident, or have relevant footage which could aid our enquiries, please call 101 and quote reference 5225018782 to the call handler.”

The Sun has contacted Gumtree for comment.

Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme – Sun Club.

A man standing near a wall, looking towards the camera.  A car is visible in the background.
Neil Hope
Guy is helping police track down the culprit[/caption]

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Jhon Duran’s new salary after £64m Al Nassr transfer revealed with ex-Aston Villa ace earning £1,900 PER HOUR

THE stunning breakdown of Jhon Duran’s multi-million-pound contract with Al-Nassr has been revealed.

And it makes for truly incredible reading.

Aston Villa's Jhon Duran celebrating a goal.
REUTERS
Jhon Duran completed a stunning from Aston Villa to Al-Nassr on Friday[/caption]
Jhon Duran in Al Nassr jersey, number 9.
X@ALNASSRFC_EN
The striker has signed a contract worth a whopping £16.7million per year[/caption]
Jhon Duran pointing at the camera.
X@ALNASSRFC_EN
The details of the 21-year-old’s new contract are truly staggering[/caption]

The Colombian completed a stunning £64million move to the Saudi Pro League side from Aston Villa on Friday night.

Duran‘s surprise move to The Kingdom has secured him an incredible pay rise that will set him up for life.

The striker, who only signed a new contract with Villa last October, is set to earn a whopping TAX-FREE yearly salary of £16.7million.

That equates to a staggering £1.4m per month, £46,000 per day and £1900 an hour.

The now former Villa striker now also earns £31 a minute and 52 pence per second.

Duran joined Villa from MLS side Chicago Fire in January 2023 for a fee of £18m.

He leaves Villa Park having scored 20 goals in 78 appearances for Unai Emery‘s side.

Villa confirmed Duran’s departure in a brief statement thanking him for his efforts during his time in the Midlands.

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Jhon Durán's Aston Villa 2024-25 season statistics.

It read: “Aston Villa can confirm that Jhon Durán has joined Al-Nassr for an undisclosed fee.

“The striker moves to Saudi Arabia having scored 12 goals for Villa this term, including the winner against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

“Everyone at Aston Villa would like to wish Jhon all the best in the next step of his professional career.”

Duran could make his Al-Nassr debut next Friday when they welcome Al Feiha to Al-Awwal Park.

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