Not only was her health suffering as a direct result of her size and weight - she was 18st 7lb and a size 22 - but also she was born and bred in the town where women have the lowest life expectancy in the UK.
Life expectancy for women in Blaenau Gwent, where Brynmawr stands, is 78.9 years, the ONS says.
Non-smoker Michelle said she has a new lease of life after returning to Brynmawr and now hopes she's significantly increased her life expectancy.
Michelle Humphreys, 58, runs a dressmakers and haberdashery in the town square where she spends a lot of her working life altering clothes to fit ever-growing female customers.
That's four years lower than the life expectancy across England, which is now 83 for women, Office for National Statistics data shows.
