Woman says she was 'too fat' for massage

AURORA, Colo. - A Colorado woman says she was denied a massage because of her size.

Now, she's speaking out against the company she says rudely turned her away.

Laura Smith says she had just completed a half marathon in Arizona and couldn't wait for a massage at Natural Healing Center.

"I had planned it specifically for the day after my marathon,” Smith said. “Because I knew I'd be hurting."

But she says she wasn’t allowed to get a massage.

“The doctor comes out and she says, 'I'm sorry, but you're too fat for our tables. You're going to probably break a table and then you'd have to pay for it,'” Smith recalled. “And i was like, in shock, like ‘Am I hearing this?’"

She left the center in tears. She couldn't understand. She's 6 foot 3 and had massages even before she'd lost 47 pounds to drop to about 250.

"I mean I'm not tiny, I know that, but I'm working on it."

Penny wells, the owner of Natural Healing, wouldn't talk on camera, but she says she called Smith large, not fat. And she worried a table might collapse because one had broken under a 165-pound man.

"I honestly expected to have some kind of a phone call or something from them,” Smith said. “You know, just to say, 'Wow, we're really sorry we didn't know it came across that way," or something, but nothing."

And Smith says she's still waiting to get that massage.

"i don't think i want a massage there though."