Dia De Los Muertos: One Of The World’s Fattest Men, Jose Luis Garza, Has Died

Jose Luis Garza has died of heart failure at the age of 47. Massively obese, Garza had appealed to the public — and to fellow Mexican Manuel Uribe — to help him in his battle to lose weight and become healthy:

Mr Garza lived about an hour away from Mr Uribe in the town of Juarez and the two talked on the phone about weight loss.

Mr Uribe, whose record weight of 560kg earned him a place in this year’s Guinness World Records, had tried to help Mr Garza by sending him kiwifruit, grapefruit, pears and a protein supplement.

How does someone become as big as Jose Luis? In his case, it was depression:

Mr Garza said he had always struggled with his weight, but fell into a cycle of depression and overeating nine months ago after his parents died of natural causes within two weeks of each other. He had been bedridden for four months.

Mr Garza’s condition deteriorated over the weekend as he struggled to breathe and eat.

Family members criticised officials for not moving Mr Garza to a hospital before he became critically ill.

“If he had received support at the time he asked for it, he would still be with us,” said his brother, Pedro.

Officials say that moving him would have been extremely difficult and the treatment he would have received at a hospital would be the same as that at his home. Garza had been steadily losing weight after switching his diet. Previously, he would consume 20 eggs and nine tortillas for breakfast, half a chicken and four tortillas for lunch, and pizzas, tacos and pasta for dinner, with various sodas throughout the day. Said Garza of his weight loss:

“I started the diet at (age) 41. It’s good. It’s an amazing diet,” the 43-year-old said. “I’m feeling good. I work every day. Every day, it is the diet zone. It is perfect.”

Our thoughts are with his family.

Big battle ends for super-sized Jose Luis Garza [Herald Sun]