AN OBESE disabled man has been given a “new lease of life” after he shed four stone in just three months.

Kevin Chard, 47, had resigned himself to a life of watching TV, drinking beer and hardly leaving home before he was inspired to suddenly change his ways.

The move to dramatically turn Kevin’s life around was sparked by his brother Jamie, who had had enough of seeing his brother struggle.

Kevin said: “I think to be honest we were chatting and my brother just woke me up as he was fed up with the way I was living.

“I was just getting out of bed, watching TV, drinking loads of cans of beer and basically just going to bed again.”

Jamie said: “We went out pushing to start off with. The first time he could only manage 10 pushes of his wheelchair and he could hardly breathe.

“Now he has pushed from Chard to Donyatt Bowling Club and back again. He has been pushing and swimming every single day.

“He went from pushing to Donyatt in three-and-a-half hours to just 45 minutes.

“He’s gone from building up to 40 lengths to now doing between 200 and 350 lengths every day.”

As well as losing a lot of weight, Kevin has changed his whole lifestyle around.

Janice Chard, Kevin’s mum, said: “He started off pushing the wheelchair to begin with to build up his strength otherwise he wouldn’t have even been able to get himself out of the pool.

“He started swimming at Cricket St Thomas in late September. Since then he’s just got a new lease of life.

“It has been fun but there have also been some tears, when maybe he thought Jamie was pushing him too hard.

“Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.”

Kevin added: “I have put some of my progress on Facebook and the messages of support I have got from friends and family has been incredible.

“You have always got in the back of your mind you are hoping to just push yourself as much as you can. I have done that, and then pushed even more thanks to Jamie.

“I am going to keep going with this and keep swimming and pushing every day.

“My life is totally different now. I am eating nothing but lots of fruit, a bit of salad and sometimes a yoghurt.

“I take a photo of every meal and I have to show Jamie so he knows I’m not cheating.

“I hope people will see that if I can do it then anyone can do it.

“I lost four stone in three months and I am obviously in a wheelchair. I can only use my arms for exercise and when I swim I only use my arms.

“People have the chance to go running and do other things as well. The most important thing though is the mindset. You have definitely got to believe in yourself.”

Janice said: “We are all really really proud of him. It has made all of our lives better.”

Jamie added: “If somebody as well known as Kevin with his spina bifida can do it, anybody can do it.”