Oh flip Gypsie.... I knew there was something I wanted to watch tonight! I will try and catch it when it gets aired on More 4.

We had a patient on one of the wards I worked on who was absolutely enormous - I can't remember how much she weighed but it took 8 nurses to move her and she had to have a special bed to take her weight.

Anyway all her family brought in incredibly fattening food for her all the time - with the logic that it made her happy,

She is in her late 40s and is in a nursing home now - purely down to her weight.

Catching it on 4 + 1 Gypsie.... thanks for the reminder

Hello Gypsie, I watched it.  I do agree with what you say about the carer although I get the feeling that she was to do the practical things like wash him and cook for him but I would think he was telling her what he wanted to eat!  That does seem absolutely ludicrous though doesn't it.



I felt sorry for him, at some point through his own gluttony which must be an illness within himself he got to a point of no return - what a real shame for him.



I didn't understand why after all the surgeries he was then given a wheelchair, that sort of defeated the object a bit on the one hand, he doesn't have to walk anywhere now but I can see on the other hand he can have a little independence in the world outside and this will hopefully help his attitude become much more positive about himself as a human being.

Blimey Issy its sad really when its a disability that you are causing. Baz it was really worth watching. Freespirit i agree about the wheelchair, and I cant help but feel he could have pushed himself a bit more than he did.

I don't know how i felt about him after watching the programme as i don't really like food but i do know how hard it is to try and give up the cigs, i think he cried when she left cause he know she would give him the food he wanted

The thing is, it is like an illness as Freespirit said. It is a bit like being an alcoholic or even a drug addict - food is the thing that they are addicted to,
They KNOW it is damaging them but it brings comfort and control and reassures them.4
It gets to the point where they cannot control what they are doing.

Just the sheer logisitcs of getting him the operation are amazing...

Yes, and he made a lot of referneces to being like a baby and to some extent i think he was passing the blame. Like when he said he said the NHS wouldnt have to pay for him if they had given him the opp when he was 20 stone lighter, as he had asked. It was like he was passing responsibility on to others.

anyway, really hope he continues to do well and enjoys the rest of his days.

Watching it now,he has just had the op.About to leave for home but he is not happy about his care package being cut .
I think he has mental problems,he is so upset and regretting the op.I though he would be ready to start getting his independance /life back.Confused by his reaction.

I am watching now too Erinp..... and found his reaction a bit OTT....

But I guess he must miss her.....

Sounds like Marie was his partner (in his mind ) and not his carer.
Saw more of him than I wanted too.

10.5 KG OF EXCESS FAT REMOVED!!

I think it's different storkes for different folks, his is food while others is drugs, cigs or booze, for me watching this just makes me feel ill that someone could eat that much in one day, i have never been a big eater even from being a child and seeing what he puts away in a day would last me a month or two. i had a homemade burger and fries for tea and i could only manage the burger and i hadn't eaten since yesterday, maybe he would like my appetite for abit  i hope he does well in the future

I didn't watch it but I saw previews and clips.
After reading your comments in here I'm still struggling to comprehend how anyone could get that huge   If, as has been pointed out, he asked for an op when he was 20st lighter he STILL must have been extremely overweight and presumably would have already clearly displayed his addiction, if nothing else..?  How was this not picked up on by his doctor?

It does seem little unfair to have had the ok for the op that must have cost thousands on NHS only to then have his crutch ripped away from him without warning! His carer would have been a fantastic support to him on an emotional level and I think he was upset and dismayed because he knew he would miss her but also because he knew it meant he would now have 18 hours with nobody to talk to rather than 12.  I could understand to a point his reaction, it did seem a bitter sweet result for him having had what he had wanted ie the op.  I also think change frightened him and rather than be able to accept another carer he would rather be dead!!   But it all turned out not too bad and hopefully he goes from strength to strength x

I agree about the wheelchair Freespirit.... but let's hope he continues to make progress ....

I hope the chair doesnt become his new "bed",I hope he treats the chair
as an aid,that walking and living independently is the aim.
The money saved should have been transferred to an excersise programme.The hard work starts after the op,the op is not the end to his recovery.If he isnt in some excersise programme he will go right back to the size he was.

I agree Erinp..

I always find it odd that people come and join the gym ,start a slimming class ,then when they reach their goal ...leave.
Several months later they are back having gain the weight.

I only saw the second half where the hospital were preparing for him and his op. Not knowing what the final outcome would be as I didn't know his story I felt concerned for him. A couple of years ago there was a prog about those who were classed as morbidly obese and having ops but one man didn't survive it which was upsetting having heard his story and that of his partner who we saw and was so hopeful.


I understand what's said about the wheelchair but he came across at the end as being totally focused on wanting to live a normal life again so hopefully the wheelchair is just a stepping stone to a much happier and healthier life for him

My thoughts kept changing as I watched it on catch up.

Initially.....Why was he being fed such incredible amounts even though he was incapable of preparing this food himself.

......How did he fund this food bill when he clearly didn't/couldn't work (I know his Mother remortgaged but what funded it after that money ran out)

.....Why wasn't he helped by his GP when he first became incapicitated (sp)  due to his size

....Thought it was harsh of Social Services to slash his daily help so savagely before he had chance to recover from his op.

.....When he entered hospital for his gastric band op he was perfectly happy to accept a 500 calorie limit, why did he not do this while still living at home.

Aimee that is really not healthy at all, Have you seen your GP?

I watched it last night and felt repulsed I am sorry but I could not feel any empathy for him ..I thought I would ....

I didn't watch it...I'd seen the trailer and that was disgusting enough.

He'd have lost a lot of weight a lot sooner if poeple hadn't been giving him food.

It annoyed me when he threw a hissy fit when he learned his benefits were to be cut from 700 to 350 per WEEK.

yeah that little tantrum didn't endear him to me i must say.

Me too Spider. Lots of people would be glad to able to be able to earn £350 a week..... Nice to see you, by the way

I have read that he is now planning on suing the NHS for letting him grow so fat!!!!

Sorry, but I find him to be horrible...maybe he can sue and then repay the Taxpayer all the money it's cost to feed him, operate on him, treat him, build stronger hospital beds etc....

http://www.sunvote.co.uk/cms/n...e_allowed_to_sue_nhs

Just another way to get a payout and avoid getting off his fat arse and getting a job!

I said in an above post I felt no empathy towards him which I thought I would have, whilst watching the program I felt he was blaming others for his weight situation although he never said this outright I felt there were undertones of it in his attitude,I thought his carerer was wonderful I would imagine he would be hard to deal with as there was a lot of anger and self pity lurking in him,I hope they make an example of him if he is going to sue the NHS and give him nothing,he has got to take responsibility for himself  and stop eating so much food.

Let him sue but using his  OWN money.
He will never win ,no one forced the food into his gob.He is an ungrateful ,greedy ,needy.lazy ,fat git.
I have no doubt that he will be as big as he was within the year, he takes no ownership for his weight.
You would have thought he would have been so grateful to have a chance at life again.

I was nearly crucified back in the summer for suggesting that Josie was fat.  Of course, she is no where near the weight of this man (especially now after her "dramatic 3 stone weight lost, story exclusively in OK").

One in four people in the UK are obese.  Not overweight, not pleasingly plump, not carrying a bit of holiday weight, but obese.  This man is at the end of the spectrum, but there are hundreds more on their way to becoming the fattest in the nation.