A DAD has lost a staggering ELEVEN stone in just 14 months – after he “fell apart” when his son asked him if he was going to die.

Matthew Riggs, from Markhams Chase, Basildon, found the motivation to lose weight after his son, then aged seven, came home from school after learning about the body and asked him if he was going to die .

The 33-year-old is now sharing his incredible weightloss journey, after losing 11 stone and 1lb, to encourage others to get fit and healthy.

He told the Echo: “It all started at my son’s football match. I was getting out of breath going from pitch to pitch with him. One of my friends said to me that I needed to sort myself out.

“I didn’t think there was any issues with me at the time but then my son came home from school after learning about the body and stuff and he basically came over to me and just looked at me and said “dad are you going to die”. That was it. I literally fell apart.

“I asked him why he thought I was going to die and he said it was because I was overweight and fat. Obviously they’re so innocent, kids, and he was just learning about the body and healthy eating at school. For him to come over to me at seven and say that, that was it.

“Even now it’s like my motivation to hear it repeated in my head.”

At the start of his fitness journey, Mr Riggs recalls trying to think of every excuse not to go to his first gym session.

Since then he has trained every single day for more than 625 days – even doing a workout on Christmas Day.

He said: “I made a commitment with one of my friends. I spent all day trying to think of excuses not to go but I knew I had to go.

“It was the best thing I’ve ever done to be honest with you. I feel a lot healthier.

Matthew’s son is now eight and is “chuffed” with his dad’s progress.

Matthew inspires others by posting his fitness journey on his Instagram account.

He added: “The amount of people that message me daily to say I’ve inspired them. It’s a nice feeling and it’s all stemmed from my son.

“You need to find that one thing that motivates you. For me it was my son, but you need to find that one thing and just focus on it.”