A mum lost 20 stone after being fitted with a gastric band but killed herself as a torrent of online abuse continued to pour in.
Kelly Burndred, 37, had been bullied all her life over her size.
She peaked at 30st but after the operation she slimmed to 10st – and ran a half marathon.
But instead of happiness, Kelly grew more depressed.
And her family believe it was taunting by Facebook ghouls which pushed her to the brink.
After years of being insulted for being heavy she faced a new wave of abuse from strangers for having the £6,000 op on the NHS.
Mike Thalassitis' death leads ITV to hire 24/7 psychiatrist to support TOWIE cast
Trolls saw her profile through friends and sent messages via the Facebook Messenger app.
Unable to cope, she killed herself after sending her mum a text with a link to the Queen hit You’re My Best Friend.
Kelly’s grief-stricken family, including daughter Jessica, 15, are now trying to achieve something positive from her death.
They have launched Kelly’s Legacy to help people with mental health issues, and teamed up with charity Mind to set up a website and helpline.
And they want tighter regulations from web giants to tackle online abuse and bullying.
Kelly’s mum Doreen Moran, 61, from Stoke, said: “She’d always had problems with her weight, she was a compulsive eater – takeaways, crisps, junk.
Will.i.am slams 'inhumane' Michael Jackson backlash: 'He wouldn't hurt a fly'
“She’d try diets, lose weight, but couldn’t keep it up, then she’d put even more back on.
“Her doctor said if she didn’t have the gastric band then she wouldn’t make it to 40.”
Kelly, who was also bipolar, had the band fitted in 2015.
Doreen went on: “She’d been picked on since school. She was always big, tall as well, so she stood out.
“Even children at Jessica’s school would make cruel comments about her ‘big fat mum’.
“All her life she put on a brave face. She hated the way she looked, she would eat because she was down and ended up getting bigger.
“When she was 15 she was told she would never have children because she had polycystic ovaries.
“She was devastated but when she became pregnant everything changed.
“She went to college and university. Kelly wanted to live and had the surgery on the NHS because she couldn’t afford it. After it she looked amazing.
“But she was still getting abuse – bullied through Facebook.
“She was getting messages like ‘Because you couldn’t stop putting food in your mouth us taxpayers had to pay for it’. She was depressed.”
Doreen added: “She was buying trendy clothes size 8-10, she looked great. But she was still getting nasty messages. We think they pushed her over the edge.”
Kelly’s husband Gareth, 37, saw some of the taunts.
He said: “They’d call her ‘disgusting’ or say ‘put the fork down’.
“Then as she lost the weight it would be ‘why have you got this on the NHS?’”
Recalling the day Kelly died, dad Bryan, 64, said they received a frantic call from Gareth at 7.30am.
The night before, Kelly and Doreen had been texting until 2.20am.
Doreen revealed: “Her last text was a link to You’re My Best Friend. That will always haunt me.”
Teenager died when tapeworm eggs hatched in his brain after eating pork
Bryan added: “Companies need to do more to help people report online abuse. They must have technology to stamp it out.”
Kelly’s family have raised over £6,000 for Mind, which has launched the Speak Up Space website for people aged 11-18.
Students at Kelly’s old school – The Co-operative Academy in Tunstall, which Jessica also attends – helped produce the Speak Up Space name and logo.
Jessica said: “I’m happy with Kelly’s Legacy and it means mum won’t be gone for no reason.”
Kelly’s relatives are now waiting for a date to be set for her inquest.
Facebook said it had “no place” for bullying, trolling, or harassment and that tools for people to protect themselves included blocking individuals and deleting comments.
