In Ipswich, England, the once World’s Fattest Man, a former postal employee, is suing the National Health Service for allowing him to become so obese. The 50 year old man asked for help at 30 stone(a stone equals 14 pounds), but feels he received poor advice from a medic in 1996 who advised him to ride his bike more often. He is also complaining that at 64 stone, he asked to see an eating disorders specialist, he feels he was wronged by being sent to a dietician; Consequently, he blames the NHS and these two issues for his weight getting out of control. In his and his lawyer’s view, England’s Socialized Health System is responsible and they expect to be rewarded financially; although, he has stated that he wants to do something for society by pressing forward with the suit. Thus he hopes to salvage an altruistic sense of self-sacrificing dignity from a life time of self-indulgence.
“I want to set a precedent so no one else has to get to the same size – and to put something back into society.”
He has recently undergone a gastric surgery that has allowed him to reduce to a smaller 37 stone.
His obese state has caused him so much grief that he has tried, unsuccessfully, to commit suicide three times. He took an overdose of painkillers, but somehow failed in the attempt. Although, those who really want to commit suicide will get the deed done, those who are begging for attention fail. He has also tried slashing his wrists, but obviously neglected to cut deep enough; as a result of a gastric band operation being cancelled. Of course most gastric bands are only effective until the upper part of the stomach, above the band stretches enough to accommodate the pre-surgery intake of food and then, the weight comes back with a vengeance. The basic problems don’t go away permanently, unless you eat less and exercise more.
Five years passed until he was given the chance for the operation again. During that period he was housebound and was consuming 20,000 calories a day, ten times the requirement for a healthy man. His sedentary lifestyle was so advanced that he couldn’t get up and out to attend the funeral of his mother. During the past fifteen years, the cost to the state for caring for this man is estimated to have hit one million pounds (One pound Sterling = $1.55 US).
He finally had the operation at a cost to England’s Socialized Health Care of 30,000 pounds and another 5,000 to reinforce the floor of the surgical room so that it could withstand his weight. At his heaviest, he was weighing in at 70 stone.
Earlier today, I worked for a physician; we discussed this case at length, he assured me he was familiar with the situation. He told me that morbidly obese people come to him regularly with complaints of knee pain. He will radiograph the knee of a twenty eight year old and the knee will look like the knee of an eighty year old person. He will suggest that they exercise more and eat less and they will complain that that is just too hard. They want a surgery or a medication that will work the magic without any effort or inconvenience for them.
I told him that we were fast approaching the day when these weaklings would hold him responsible if he couldn’t get the weight off them in a timely fashion and without asking them to sacrifice, the main reason for the weight problem in the first place. He looked at the ground and shook his head. He then told me he was going to send this article around to his contemporaries in the medical field to show them what they had to look forward to in the future with Obama Care and the Perpetual Nanny State. That state where the doctor does these magical things for you if you are too stupid or too lazy to do them yourself.
A professional horseman for over 50 years, Skook continues to work with horses. Skook has finished an historical novel, Fifty Thousand Years, that traces a mitochondrial line of DNA from 50,000 years ago to the present. The story follows a line of courageous women, from the Ice Ages to the present, as they meet the challenges of survival with grit and creativity. These are not women who whimper of being victims, they meet the challenges of survival as women who use their abilities without excuses or remorse, these women are winners, they are our ancestors.
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How much did it cost him to purchase 20,000 calories a day, and who paid for it? The state?
He’s been eating enough food to keep ten people alive.
This man’s attitude is a natural outgrowth from expecting the STATE to make all of your decisions for you.
He honestly holds the gov’t responsible for his own meal choices and exercise habits.
I used to joke that ObamaCare would inevitably lead to meals pre-packaged for the masses.
You might get some choice, like between ”Breakfast 1,2,3 or 4.”
But you won’t be getting the makings for eggs Benedict anytime at all.
And even though beef might be in a few of the Dinner, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, or 9, boxes, you can bet you won’t be getting the $300 a pound Kobe beef either.
Having played with WWII ration ticket books as a child I can only say, WHY?!?!?
We are not that stupid, nor are we in that dire of straights.
But little-by-little we are relinquishing our personal responsibility to the state.
It’s not just the doctors who will be expected to take care of these people with self-inflicted illnesses, but the rest of us will be expected to foot the bill for their addictions.
Wm. I wondered the same thing while reading the article. I’ll bet the state is paying the bill, it’s for sure that he can’t do any type of productive work. So unless he is independently wealthy, it is the state, they are providing everything else to care for him. In the future, I am sure we will be taking on more and more of these self-indulgent slobs; at least if Obama Care is allowed to proceed.
With Socialized Medicine, do we have a Michelle type of official who will say only green vegetables for you or will we foot the total cost of their over indulgence. Limiting their caloric intake is encroaching on freedom by a Big Brother type of health service: allowing them to gorge themselves into obese oblivion and providing for all their health needs is a colossal waste of public funds.
Once we have decided on how to deal with the morbidly obese, how do we deal with the drug addicted who need medical care by the millions.
Steve when i read the Sun article it said that he was PLANNING on suing, that is the suit has yet to be filed. And WWII ration books remind me of back when the greatest generation accepted government control as being for the common good, just as they did for income taxes twice as high as we complain about now.
johnny ryan.. you can read more than 12 words? stunning…. don’t believe it
The title says he is suing, the subtitle says he plans to sue; it is either a typo or another of the many cultural differences within the text that makes reading the British Press challenging.
FDR requested executive war powers to combat the Depression during his inaugural address, March 4, 1933. He had eight years to wage a futile battle against the Great Depression, until WWII came along and bailed him and the US out of the depression. Whether the American people accepted the ration coupons cheerfully will require research; however, for many, the coupons were surely preferable to starving, much like food stamps today. Not many food stamp recipients complain about the free food.
It is argued that FDR’s new deal kept the US wallowing in the depression long after the rest of the world recovered. I am just starting to do research in this area, so I am skeptical of everything at this point. The newspapers of that era seem to contradict the history books, so it is an interesting journey. The newspapers that I have are without the Progressive Agenda so they are refreshing to read, even though the news is between 1830 to the Korean War. One thing is for sure, either the history books are skewed or the newspapers were disoriented.
Someone enabled him. Someone went to the store, bought the food, cooked and served it to him. Someone paid for the 20,000 calories per day. Someone cleaned up his chamberpot (since he can’t fit into the bathroom). Someone is washing him, since he can’t reach his toes, underarms, back, naughty bits.
That person is the one that needs to be sued for enabling this man to try suicide by gluttony.
As an aside. I watched Jerry Springer two times in my life. The first time a morbidly obese man was being taken to the hospital for surgery and to help with weight loss. Volunteers removed part of the house, volunteers from a local gym helped move him into an ambulance/van and get him to the hospital. On television he cried about his plight and how he would change his lifestyle.
The second time I watched Jerry Springer, it was like deja vu. Voila! There was the same guy with a different bunch of volunteers, firemen, paramedics, etc. being removed from the house. This time they had to remove the outside wall. Since his first episode he had gained more weight. Now they needed a customized forklift to move this guy into a moving van to get him to the hospital. Again he cried and promised to get his obsession with death by gluttony under control.
I am afraid to watch Jerry Springer again. This time the government will build a hospital around him (using government funding) and several volunteers will end up with surgery for hernias, popped discs, etc.
As another comment, George Will had a great article about this very topic this week.
And a final comment, in another century, this man would have died because no one would have the time, effort or money to support his addiction or attempted suicide by gluttony.