Builder loses nuts and bolts By JAMIE PYATT August 09, 2007 COMMENT ON THIS STORY BUILDING boss Howard Shelley carried out the ultimate DIY conversion — by CASTRATING himself so he could become a woman. The 42-year-old dad of two decided on the drastic move after being told he would have to wait at least two years for a sex change on the NHS. He found a website which gave a step-by-step guide to the eye-watering home surgery, then waited till wife Janet went out before setting to work with a kitchen knife in the loo. With the job done, he wrapped his severed appendages in a cloth and dropped them in the bin. Then he drove five miles to his local GP, explained what he’d done, and was packed off for treatment at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, near Aylesbury, Bucks. Amazingly, three days later he was back at his desk. Howard, who wants to be known as Holli, said: “It was very painful, but the moment I cut them off I felt all woman. “It was such a relief. I’d felt all my life I was a woman trapped in a man’s body and I couldn’t wait two years dressing and living as a female to get a sex change on the NHS. I’m the sort of guy who, when I make up my mind to do something, wants it done there and then. I didn’t want to be a man any more so I decided to do it myself.” Howard, who has two sons and has now split with his missus, is MD of their girls-only firm Women Builders — based in Bletchley. He revealed how he began researching DIY castration after he became frustrated with medics. He said: “None of them seemed to understand. They kept asking if I was gay or a transvestite. I’m not. “In the end, I turned to the Net — it’s amazing what you can find. “Following the instructions, I sterilised everything and made a tourniquet with rubber bands. “The worst bit was steeling myself for the first cut. The whole thing took six minutes. It was agony, but I knew I couldn’t stop.” Howard has now been referred to a gender change clinic and is awaiting approval for funding to receive female growth hormones. He is saving up £5,000 for a full sex-change operation in Thailand. He said: “I want breasts and hips — then I can be a real woman.” Janet, 42, who has an MBE for setting up their firm, said: “We still love each other. I’m just angry he had to take such extreme action.”
It's hilarious how he says that he was a woman trapped in a man's body yet at the same time he still refers to himself as a guy: "I'm the sort of guy who..."
