Former World's Fattest Man Wants Surgery to Remove Loose Skin on the NHS

Until not long ago, Paul Mason, 50, held the record for world's fattest man, weighing in at almost half a tonne (500 kg / 1,102 pounds). He underwent gastric surgery on the NHS and now, almost half his former weight, he wants cosmetic surgery.

Of course, he expects the NHS (National Health Service) to pay for it since he can't afford it but feels he can no longer live without it, because of the flaps of loose skin he was left with after weight loss, he tells the Daily Mail.

At his heaviest, as noted above, Mason weighed approximately 1,102 pounds (500kg) and was told by doctors he didn't have longer to live if he didn't get gastric bypass immediately.

He underwent surgery and has managed to lose almost half his body weight. He can now come out of the house using a special motorized wheelchair.

The problem is that, since the surgery he's now asking for is not for clinical reasons but for cosmetic ones, it is not automatically available on the NHS.

Before the NHS even considers paying for it, Mr. Mason has to keep his weight stable for a longer period of time. He needs it now, he pleads.

“I just need a little bit more help. I feel like I have been just left high and dry,” he says for the Mail.

“I need this operation to be able to get my life back, to be able to get back into society. It is stopping me living a reasonable life,” he further argues.

In all fairness, Mr. Mason did spend a great deal of his life shut from society, because of his food addiction that made his weight spiral out of control.

He turned to food after heartbreak in his youth, with his father's death and his mother's health unexpectedly deteriorating.

In almost no time, he'd quit his job because he could no longer move to deliver the mail, became shut to the outside world, and lost all mobility.

He had his stomach stapled in 2010 and, by early 2011, was mobile again, albeit with the motorized wheelchair.