14 DAY TRIAL // Paul Mason is still believed to be the world’s fattest man but that’s a distinction he doesn’t plan on holding onto for too long. Having lost 20 stone already (approximately 128 kg), Mason is mobile again.
The former postman has a long history of losing and gaining back weight, but, this time, he’s determined to shed the pounds and make them stay off for good, he says in an interview cited by the Daily Mail.
He recently had surgery for gastric bypass and has already lost enough weight to allow him to move around on a custom-made reinforced motorized chair.
The Mail has a first picture of Mr. Mason out and about. For a man who could only be taken to the hospital after firefighters tore down one of the walls of his house, this is no small feat.
However, he plans on continuing to lose weight until his body is a normal size.
“All I want to do is be able to walk again and live like a normal human being. I’ve got a second shot at life and I’m not going to waste it,” he says for the British media.
“I don’t want to go back to the old me. I’m determined to carry on losing weight until I’m a normal size. I’m much happier and healthier now,” Mr. Mason adds.
Before having the surgery, Mason would eat 20,000 calories in a single day, which is ten times more the amount recommended to a healthy adult. He was put on a crash diet before having his stomach stapled.
Because of his health problems, after surgery, Mr. Mason suffered a heart attack, which probably contributed to his determination to continue losing weight.
Strictly for the sake of argument, Mr. Mason’s weight problem is taking a serious toll on taxpayers, as the Mail also points out.
“His care bill costs taxpayers an estimated £100,000 a year and is believed to have topped £1 million over the last 15 years,” the tab writes. On his first outing since losing weight, he was accompanied by “one of his NHS carers.”