Formerly half-ton man can leave house at last

gldstwmn · #1 03-08-2007, 12:37 AM

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americ....ap/index.html

SAN NICOLAS DE LOS GARZA, Mexico (AP) -- A man who once weighed well over half a ton left his house for the first time in five years Wednesday -- wheeled outside on his bed to greet neighbors and see a mariachi band.

"The sky is beautiful and blue, and what I want is to enjoy the sun," said Manuel Uribe, who had once been certified by doctors as weighing 1,235 pounds.

Though still unable to leave his bed, Uribe has lost 395 pounds since he began a high-protein diet a year ago. He now weighs about 840 pounds.

To celebrate the milestone, six people pushed Uribe's wheel-equipped iron bed out to the street as a mariachi band played and a crowd gathered. Then, a forklift lifted him onto a truck and the 41-year-old rode through the streets of San Nicolas de los Garza, a Monterrey suburb.

With dozens of reporters and photographers in tow, Uribe traveled along, passing the town's plaza and church and waving at clusters of people eager to get a glimpse of him.

"It fills me with joy to see he's getting better and getting a little sun," Uribe's neighbor Guadalupe Guerra said. "I would go crazy if I had to be inside my house for so many years."

Uribe was a chubby kid and weighed more than 250 pounds as an adolescent. In 1992, when he was 26, his weight began ballooning further, he said.

Since the summer of 2002, Uribe has been bedridden, relying on his mother and friends to feed and clean him.

He drew worldwide attention in January 2006 when he pleaded for help on national television. Afterward, an Italian and a Spanish doctor both visited and offered gastric bypass surgery.

But Uribe chose to accept help from Mexican nutritionists working with the Zone diet. He says he will stick to that diet until he reaches his goal of 265 pounds.

"My goal is to leave the house on my own but I know that will be a long process," he said. Doctors say it may take three to four years for Uribe to reach his goal.

Uribe said he plans to start a foundation to help overweight people get medical assistance and teach them about healthful eating habits.

sparky · #2 03-08-2007, 12:51 AM

I wonder if they took him to a McDonalds.

gldstwmn · #3 03-08-2007, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky

I wonder if they took him to a McDonalds.

Good one!
Well, if he's doing The Zone then he had to have his quarter pounder without the bun.

sparky · #4 03-08-2007, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Good one!
Well, if he's doing The Zone then he had to have his quarter pounder without the bun.

That Zone thing is kinda ridiculous. I have a friend who did it and had prepared meals delivered, blah blah blah. Kinda expensive. It's just food.

amber · #5 03-08-2007, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky

That Zone thing is kinda ridiculous. I have a friend who did it and had prepared meals delivered, blah blah blah. Kinda expensive. It's just food.

I have friends who did it themselves using a book and were very successful. It is just food, though. Regular food. That you would eat anyway. Like, chicken breast and salad. Steak and veggies.

estranged4life · #6 03-08-2007, 01:16 AM

Quick question for y'all - Ever heard of a person being asked to lose 100 lbs in a month's time?

gldstwmn · #7 03-08-2007, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky

That Zone thing is kinda ridiculous. I have a friend who did it and had prepared meals delivered, blah blah blah. Kinda expensive. It's just food.

I did The Zone but I didn't have the meals sent to the house or anything. I also exercised vigorously, doing yoga and pilates several times a week and so much cardio it wasn't even funny. I don't think I ate a potato for three years. But I was a size four.

gldstwmn · #8 03-08-2007, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by estranged4life

Quick question for y'all - Ever heard of a person being asked to lose 100 lbs in a month's time?

Under medical supervision?

sparky · #9 03-08-2007, 01:31 AM

On another note, diet my ASS. Anyone who gets that big has severe psychological problems. I am stunned that there is no mention of mental health care in this case.

estranged4life · #10 03-08-2007, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Under medical supervision?

needing to lose 100lbs in a month before a surgery can be performed (The weight needs to come off by changes in diet, exercise and lifestyle change).

amber · #11 03-08-2007, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky

On another note, diet my ASS. Anyone who gets that big has severe psychological problems. I am stunned that there is no mention of mental health care in this case.

I know, lots of times when there are stories of big giant people, they don't really tell you how it got that out of hand. That is what I wanted to know when I read about this guy. I can't comprehend how that happens. Is something medically wrong?

estranged4life · #12 03-08-2007, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky

On another note, diet my ASS. Anyone who gets that big has severe psychological problems. I am stunned that there is no mention of mental health care in this case.

(On Mom's side of the family) at one time weight about 600lbs. And she had some type of mental issue because she was institutionalized in a state psychiatric facility.

My older brother Geary and myself figures she possibly ate someone and had a guilty conscience about it....So who knows

sparky · #13 03-08-2007, 01:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amber

I know, lots of times when there are stories of big giant people, they don't really tell you how it got that out of hand. That is what I wanted to know when I read about this guy. I can't comprehend how that happens. Is something medically wrong?

Doubtful. It always boggles my mind that these people are surrounded by enablers. I mean, someone is bringing the donuts to them after they are bedridden. Or in this case the chimichangas and chalupas. Its shocking. Like, if they have a cat and it meows all day do they just keep filling the bowl over and over?

amber · #14 03-08-2007, 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by estranged4life

My older brother Geary and myself figures she possibly ate someone and had a guilty conscience about it....So who knows

Dude!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky

Doubtful. It always boggels my mind that these people are surrounded by enablers. I mean, someone is bringing the donuts to them after they are bedridden. Or in this case the chimichangas and chalupas. Its shocking. Like, if they have a cat and it meows all day do they just keep filling the bowl over and over?

Yeah, and they were bathing him and stuff. This was literally a south of the border Jabba situation.
I would have been like "get up and bathe yourself, ******!" about 600 pounds ago. I would have made him start hunting his own food, come to think of it. With a bow. On skates. In the jungle. Riding a panther. With 3 legs.

gldstwmn · #15 03-08-2007, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by estranged4life

needing to lose 100lbs in a month before a surgery can be performed (The weight needs to come off by changes in diet, exercise and lifestyle change).

I'm no doctor but 100 pounds in 30 days sounds like a person would wind up in the hospital anyways.