Steven Assanti, a 33-year-old man weighing nearly 800 pounds, says that he has been forced to live inside of his father's car after he was evicted from Rhode Island Hospital for ordering a pizza.
Assanti, of Cranston, R.I., had taken up residence in the hospital for the past 80 days to get help with his food addiction, reported the New York Daily News. During his stay, he had hoped to reduce his weight to 550 pounds, the maximum weight required for gastric bypass surgery.
He was prohibited from ordering outside food as per the rules of the weight-loss program, but he violated that rule when he had pizza delivered to his room, prompting hospital staff to kick him out.
A hospital spokeswoman said that he was discharged, rather than kicked out, but failed to comment further due to confidentiality laws, according to the New York Post.
"It's an addiction, and I realize that," Assanti told NBC's Rhode Island affiliate WJAR-TV while talking about his situation. "And it's a disease."
His father, Steven Veillette, said that he has little choice but to keep his son in the van because he believes that letting him stay inside the house would be worse for his health. He admits, however, that his son needs to be monitored and receive proper care.
"He needs to be monitored, because if he's on his own...he's going to just blow up because he's uncontrollable when he's by himself because he's lonely," Veillette said.
Veillette says that social workers are working to arrange for Assanti to stay at Kent Hospital in Rhode Island over the weekend. They're also considering moving Assanti to an apartment complex in Massachusetts.
