(Bournemouth, Dorset) Daily Echo

BOURNEMOUTH, England — Just four years ago Debbie Cannon was terrified to leave her house.

The 43-year-old moved to Bournemouth, England to start a new life - as a woman.

Debbie was born a boy but spent decades hiding her true identity by living as a man and even joining the army.

Now Debbie has undergone the final stages of her transition by having gender confirmation surgery and has never been happier.

Not only has she found love and is set to get married, she has been nominated for a national award celebrating LGBT role models in the community.

“Looking back now, it’s the bravest thing I’ve ever done – and I’m so glad I did," she said.

“Every day I get up and I’m me. For the first time, I'm happy. I'm not living a lie and I don't have to hide anymore.

"I feel very blessed."

Debbie knew she was a girl aged four but fought to hide her true gender.

"I grew up in the 70s in North East England. The world was a very different place then.

"It was very difficult to show who I was. I thought 'the army will make a man out of me' so I signed up at 16 and served in Northern Ireland. It was horrible.

"I did see a counselor when I came out of the army.

"But when she told me 'you don't look like a woman, you don't sound like a woman, you don't act like a woman' I felt alone.

“I tried to take my own life a few days later.

"From that point I did everything I could to live a 'conventional life.'"

However, it was when Debbie watched her dad die from lung cancer years later making her realize how precious life is. The then married father realized she could no longer live a lie.

"I was from Newcastle and I wanted to go out in Newcastle as Debbie. I thought if I could do it there, I could do it anywhere.

"I went to the football first as a guy and I went out at night as Debbie. For the first time in my life I wasn't wishing I was something else. People were calling me Debbie and referring to me as a female and I felt so happy. I realized I just had to do it."

Debbie who works investigating claims fraud for LV moved to Bournemouth, England in July 2012 to start a new life and begin her transition.

NHS guidelines state a transgender person must spend two years as a female before they are permitted to undergo corrective surgery.

"I really struggled in the beginning. I was a bit silly because I thought I could do it on my own but people are cruel. Once a guy shouted out 'you're a bloke' in the street.

"Every day it feels like you're doing a parachute jump but you have to do it, you have to step over. It's really scary but if you don't, you're just going to hide away and that's no life for anyone.

"I wasn't in a good place. It was a very dark time.

"I suffered from bulimia and depression and at one point, I was less than 10 stone despite being 6ft."

Debbie got help from a trans support group called Break Free and she turned her life around.

She became a transgender support worker and is now considered a role model for the transgender community.

Debbie set up the LGBTQ Support Network in Bournemouth, England and uses her story to tour the country advising business leaders to become more trans-inclusive and providing support to others.

Debbie underwent gender confirmation surgery in London last month with the support of her fiancée Libby - and she is excited for the couple's future.

She explained: “I’ve endured so much more pain to get to this position. Loss of family, friends, loved ones. Judgement, rejection. Abuse in the street.

“But none of it has beaten me.

“Anything worth doing often involves some level of pain or sacrifice. Pain never lasts, regrets on the other hand do."

Debbie, who has a tattoo of Botticelli's The Birth of Venus on her back to symbolize being female, is celebrating after being nominated for LGBT Role Model in the National Diversity Awards, a prestigious black tie event in Liverpool.

"There's a saying 'work for a cause not applause' and that's me but I do feel proud.

"Four years ago I was scared to leave my house. Now to use a football analogy, it's like winning the World Cup, the Champion's League and the Premier League all at once. I have to pinch myself.

"You have to follow your dreams because you only get one shot. You have to take life and grab it. It doesn't matter what your past is, your past is just that."

To vote for Debbie go here. Voting closes June 20.