Tragedies of world’s fattest people – from ‘murder’ cover-up to break-up over loaf of bread & premature death at 21 | The Sun
FOR years, Britain's fattest man aggravated the nation with tales of takeaways on the taxpayer and accusations of hospital bed blocking.
But Matthew Crawford, who was reported dead today aged 37 from sepsis and organ failure, always insisted he was misunderstood.
At his heaviest, the 60-stone Lincoln City fan took up a four-bed bay in hospital and cost the NHS a whopping £250,000 during an 18 month stay until 2019.
Sources claimed Matthew ordered Chinese food and pizzas to his bedside and he even shared a snap of himself with a large champagne bottle.
But the benefits claimant – nicknamed 'Fat kid' – always insisted he was trying to lose weight and told Lincolnshire Live: "If only you knew the truth."
Matthew's life wasn't without controversy though – in 2018, he was convicted of assaulting four nurses at a care home in Nottinghamshire.
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He also battled with alcohol addiction and was taken on the talk show Trisha to combat his problems, unfortunately without any success.
Sadly Matthew's story is not unique, many of the world's heaviest people suffered tragedy and pain – and now we look at their tragic tales.
Covered up nephew’s killing
Mayra Rosales
Heaviest weight: 74 stone
Location: Texas, America
At the height of her struggles, Mayra Rosales used to fill “a whole king-size bed” and was unable to stand up on her own two feet.
She was facing a death sentence because of her health but in 2008 was also at risk of being executed too after being charged with murder.
Mayra, from Texas, confessed to killing her sister Jamie Lee’s two-year-old son Eliseo Jr. after claiming to have fallen on top of him and then crushed him under her bed.
It led her to be branded ‘the half-tonne killer’ – however, she didn’t murder her nephew, she was covering for her sibling who fatally struck the boy with a hairbrush.
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In 2013, Mayra told ABC News: “I was already dying so I didn’t see… I was doing [something] wrong. I was already giving up in life.
“When they began saying I was going to get capital murder charges, I really saw it like they were doing me a favour."
Mayra was vindicated after an autopsy revealed signs consistent with repeat abuse against the child and eventually she told the truth.
She was cleared of all charges and Jamie Lee Rosales was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of causing injury to a child.
Since then Mayra has worked to transform her life, having reportedly lost 57 stone and had 11 surgeries to remove her excess skin.
Premature death aged 21
Dzhambulat Khatokhov
Heaviest weight: 23 stone
Location: Nalchik, Russia
Russian sumo wrestler Dzhambulat, nicknamed ‘the Gladiator’, rose to fame for becoming the “world’s fattest child”.
As a baby, his prams had to be reinforced when he bulged from his birth weight of 6lb 6oz to two stone by the time he turned one.
In 2009, doctors warned his “health is dire” and noted that his life expectancy would be “greatly reduced” if he didn’t lose weight.
Tragically their prognosis was correct and the 21-year-old died last year after suffering acute kidney problems when he weighed 23 stone.
Mother’s death led to weight gain
Carl Thompson
Heaviest weight: 65 stone
Location: Dover, England
Carl’s unhealthy relationship with food began at the age of four when he regularly raided the cupboards for “anything to eat”.
His weight continued to increase throughout his adult life and led to him being unable to work from the age of 17.
Carl’s eating spun dangerously out of control when his 54-year-old mum Elaine Hoyle died of a brain tumour in 2012.
He turned to food and within three years, his weight more than doubled from 30st to 65st, leaving him trapped in his Devon flat and unable to move.
There Carl spent £200 a week on pizza and Chinese meals that were delivered to his bedside by takeaway drivers.
At his worst, he consumed more than 10,000 calories a day and was told by doctors that he needed to lose 70 per cent of his body weight to survive.
Carl wanted to lose weight naturally rather than having a gastric band or a gastric bypass and in the final months of his life started to turn his life around.
However, he died hours after ordering his final takeaway meal of crumble and ice cream at the age of 33 in 2015 – later, his body had to be removed via crane.
Carl’s nearby pizza shop told The Sun they “could not believe it” as he had “cut right down” and appeared “full of life” when they last saw him.
Died without wife by his side
Barry Austin
Heaviest weight: 65 stone
Location: Birmingham, England
Lifelong Birmingham City fan Barry, known as ‘fat Baz’, was a beloved figure at his local football club and was described as having a “heart of gold”.
At his worst, he reportedly consumed up to 29,000 calories a day including 12 litres of fizzy drinks, which saw him swell to 65 stone.
Barry appeared in the Sky One documentary Inside Britain’s Fattest Man and after multiple warnings about his health restricted his daily calorie intake to 1,500.
He was able to shed 20 stone but in later years struggled with breathing issues and infections and was left bed-bound.
Shortly after Christmas in 2020, he suffered a fall at his Birmingham home and was rushed to hospital.
Due to Covid restrictions, his wife Debbie was unable to be with him when he died after a heart attack in January at the age of 52.
Hospitalised for two years
Jon Brower Minnoch
Heaviest weight: 100 stone
Location: Washington, America
Obesity plagued US-born Jon from an early age. He weighed a whopping 11lb when he was born and by the age of 10 he was 27 stone.
The 6ft 1in man, who received a Guinness World Record for being the planet’s heaviest man, faced multiple health battles because of his size.
In 1978, he suffered a heart attack but because he weighed 100 stone emergency services struggled to find a way to remove him from his home.
Eventually, it took a dozen firemen and an improvised stretcher to move him on to a ferry boat where he was taken in treatment.
Two hospital beds were lashed together to ensure he had somewhere big enough to sleep and it regularly took 13 people to roll him over.
Doctors warned he needed to lose weight or die due to his extreme size, which left him with heart and respiratory failure.
He spent two years in hospital, where he was restricted to 1,200 calories a day, before being eventually released after losing 66 stone.
But Jon was hospitalised again in 1981 after putting on 14 stone and died two years later at the age of 42.
Bedbound for 12 years
Manuel Uribe
Heaviest weight: 87 stone
Location: Monterrey, Mexico
Manuel's difficulties with food began when he was a child and by the time he hit his teens, he was already 17 stone.
His weight continued to spiral out of control and eventually, he became the world’s heaviest man when he weighed 87 stone in 2006.
The Mexican was housebound for the majority of his final 12 years of life and relied on his mother to feed and clean him.
One of the very few occasions he left the house was on his wedding day when he tied the knot with Claudia Solis in 2008 after losing 39 stone.
However, Manuel continued to gain weight and after it was falsely reported that he died in 2012, he passed away two years later from heart problems at the age of 48.
It took a crane to remove his body and after being transported to a funeral home on the back of a truck, he had to be cremated at a temperature 60 per cent hotter than normal.
Fiancee break-up over bread
Paul Mason
Heaviest weight: 80 stone
Location: Plymouth, England
Former postman Paul was so big, when he tipped the scales at 80 stone, that hospital staff planned to cremate him in an abattoir.
In the ITV doc The World’s Fattest Man: 10 Years On, which aired last year, Paul spoke of not only his health issues but relationship heartache too.
He met love interest Rebecca Mountain in 2013 and a year later, when he proposed, she boasted about their “great” sex life.
During their relationship, Paul underwent a gastric bypass and had several stones of excess skin removed but his obsession with food never ceased.
His eating eventually led to them breaking up after he started to fall “back into his old habits” and scoffed more than he should have.
Commenting on the split in 2019, Rebecca told The Sun: “I came home and there was a big loaf of bread on the refrigerator.
“We had an agreement that we were not going to tempt each other… he said he was getting bored with what we were eating and his portion sizes more than doubled.”
Paul, who now lives in sheltered housing in Plymouth, continues to struggle with his weight and resorted to snacking on crisps late at night during the lockdown.
He believes his issues with food were caused by the verbal and physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his father during childhood.
“He would hit me anywhere really, mostly around the head. The slightest little mistake he’d turn round and give me a wallop,” Paul recalled in an ITV doc.
Not only that, he claimed a female family friend sexually abused him between the ages of six and nine.
Paul recalled: “She told me, ‘You can’t say anything to your dad or mum or anyone about this because you know what your dad’s temper is like.’
“That made me more withdrawn in myself. Obviously, I was scared to say anything.”
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Despite his life trauma and setbacks, Paul is optimistic about the future and hopes to conquer his demons once and for all with the help of psychologists.
The 61-year-old said: “Ten years ago I didn’t know where I was but now I do know what I want.”
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