Manuel Uribe Garza, once listed the heaviest man on the earth, passed away Monday aged 48.
Initial reports claim that Uribe, a Mexican, died due to an irregular heartbeat and a condition that led to the loss of fluids in his legs, authorities at the University Hospital, Monterrey, told the Agence France-Presse.
Uribe was listed the world's heaviest man in 2006 by the Guinness World Records. He weighed 1, 230 pounds (560 kilograms) during the time. He lost nearly 867 pounds (394 kilograms) since then. Uribe was bedridden since 2002 and depended on his family and friends to clean and feed him, reports the Associated Press.
Officials said Uribe was admitted to the hospital May 2 with help of a crane by emergency and civil defense workers. He also had liver problems.
As a child, Uribe was slightly obese. However, it was only when he reached his 20s that Uribe's weight began to increase drastically. After his marriage, he illegally immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Dallas, Texas. He made his living by repairing computers. Uribe blamed his profession for his inactive lifestyle. Uribe got married a second time to Claudi Solis in 2008 and moved backed to his house in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
His mother Otilia Garza Alanis, said Uribe was a happy man and had several plans for the future. "He always said I'll do this and that. I recently talked to him and he said he was going to have a party on June 11," she told Excelsior, adding that Uribe believed he would live till his eighties.
Obesity is one of the leading causes of cardiac problems. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, more than 34.9 percent of Americans are obese. Approximately 17 percent of American children are obese. The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008. Per head medical cost for obese people was $1, 429 higher than those with normal weight.
