Father nicknamed ‘Big Dan’ shed 11 stone after being unable to board helicopter ride

A father-of-two has shed nearly half his body weight after he was denied helicopter transport to his offshore job due to weight restrictions.

Dan Shilling, a 39-year-old electrical technician, tipped the scales at 26st 1lb (166kg) at his heaviest during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 6ft-tall father was often unable to board the helicopter to the offshore rig, earning him the nickname "Big Dan" among colleagues.

A turning point came when a mere 50-metre walk at work left him breathless and sweating.

Recognising the need for change, Shilling joined the Man v Fat programme at his local football club in January 2024.

The results have been dramatic - Shilling has lost 10st 9lbs (68kg), dropping from a 4XL to an XL in clothing size and losing 10 inches from his waist.

Now weighing 15st 6lbs (98kg), he reports feeling "loads better" and is relishing his role as a partner to his girlfriend Emma and father to his two daughters, five-year-old Betsy and four-month-old Elsie.

Dan told PA Real Life: “I’ve actually got a folder on my phone, I’ve got an album called Fat Me.

“Looking back at everything from then to now, you realise how far you’ve come.

“It’s unbelievable. I still can’t believe it myself.”

Dan said he was “always bigger” during his teenage years and, although he played sport, such as rugby, football and squash, he struggled with his weight.

“I wouldn’t say I was fat as such, but I was always overweight,” he said.

“When I started working properly, I grew into my body, but I was still overweight.”

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dan was working on an oil platform west of the Shetland Islands and travelling to Aberdeen, meaning he was often away from home.

While offshore he was eating the self-serve meals provided, which included a full English breakfast, bacon rolls, lasagne for lunch, biscuits and cake in the afternoon and shepherd’s pie or steak for dinner.

He said his exercise was “non-existent” and his weight gradually increased – although he did not realise it at the time.

“While I’m offshore, if you don’t eat at that time, you don’t eat as such, so you feel like you have to,” he said.

“I didn’t realise how big I was getting and, even though we weigh in – each time you come offshore, you weigh in because they need it for the helicopter weights – I wasn’t registering that it was creeping up.”

During this time, his partner Emma lost her father to cancer and Dan said he was subjected to workplace bullying.

He said “everything that could go wrong was going wrong” and his mental health deteriorated.

“Being a typical man, instead of talking about my issues I spiralled and tried to find comfort in food, which led me to piling on the weight and becoming an unpleasant person,” he said.

At this point, Dan said he was still eating the meals at work, along with 1,200-calorie Marabou chocolate bars every night, and he reached his heaviest weight of 26st 1lbs (166kg).

After Emma told him “a few home truths”, Dan visited his GP and was diagnosed with depression and prescribed anti-depressants.

“I wasn’t really there, I was just existing,” he said.

In 2023, Dan found another job working on a gas platform in the East Irish Sea, flying out of Blackpool.

With this new job his mood lifted and he was “generally happier”, but he said his weight became an issue and he was regularly being left behind because of helicopter weight limits.

“Where I’m working, we fly out each day and they have to be able to carry a certain amount of fuel, they call it the payload,” he explained.

“If I’m sat in the helicopter weighing 160 kilos, that’s quite a lot of weight for the helicopter to have to carry, so I would quite often get left behind because I was the easy one to knock off the list.”

One day in December 2023, Dan said he was going offshore and he was “pouring with sweat and out of breath” walking just 50 metres from the terminal building to the helicopter.

He said he found it difficult to fasten his seat belt in the helicopter and, at this point, he thought: “This is enough.”

He then signed up to Man v Fat Football Norwich West, along with the Couch to 5K programme, and made a commitment to change his life from January 2024 onwards.

About 8,500 men currently take part at more than 150 Man v Fat Football clubs across the UK.

“I made a promise to myself that I would no longer be the heaviest person on the team,” Dan said.

Dan also started counting his calories and monitoring his portions at work, and he focused on increasing his daily step count.

Within the first three months, he said he lost 3st 4lbs (21kg) and, to date, he has lost nearly 11 stone.

Dan now weighs about 15st 6lbs (98kg) and is able to wear clothes from when he was 20 years old again.

“I’ve still got some clothes from back then and I’m now wearing them again,” he said.

“I haven’t had to buy a new wardrobe because I’ve still got my old one.”

Dan has also taken up running and he plans to take part in the Rome Marathon 2026 to celebrate turning 40.

While he still enjoys sweet treats and fast-food on occasion, he now has a healthier lifestyle and is no longer taking antidepressants.

Asked for his advice to others, he said: “Just stick to the basics – calories in versus calories out. That’s all I’ve done.

“I’d be happy eating a KFC as long as I go for a run to cancel it out and I’ve got the calories spare.”

Dan has been selected for Man v Fat Football’s annual Amazing Losers match, which this year takes place at Leyton Orient’s home ground in Brisbane Road, east London, on May 23.

To find out more, visit: manvfat.com/football