Half-ton Man Dies, family blames government

Originally Posted by Article

JUAREZ, Mexico - A 990-pound bedridden man who had appealed on Mexican television for help tackling his weight problem died Tuesday of heart failure, his family said.

Emergency officials had to knock down Jose Luis Garza's bedroom wall and load him onto the back of a friend's pickup truck as he fought for his life. The 47-year-old was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital in northern Mexico.

Garza followed in the footsteps of the world's fattest man, fellow Mexican Manuel Uribe of Monterrey, by taking his weight problem public. Garza lived about an hour away from Uribe in the town of Juarez.

Garza said he always struggled with his weight, but that he fell into a desperate 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.

Garza's condition deteriorated over the weekend as he struggled to breathe and eat. At his funeral, family members slammed state officials for not moving 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 Garza.

State officials argued there was little they could do.

"The attention he would have received at a hospital would have been the same he got at home," said Julio Cesar Cano, spokesman for the Nuevo Leon state health department. "Moving a patient of that magnitude is very difficult. A normal ambulance won't work."

Uribe, whose record weight of 1,230 pounds earned him a place in the 2008 Guinness Book of Records, has claimed to have lost around 550 pounds by following the Zone Diet invented by Dr. Barry Sears.

Uribe tried to help Garza by sending him kiwis, grapefruit, pears and a protein supplement. Uribe's fiancee, Claudia Solis, delivered the food on Friday evening.

Original Source Here

Besides the picture of the 990-lb man in the article, something about this really disturbs me.

This guy was 990 lbs... and the family is blaming the government for his death. I'm not sure what to think. On the one hand... he COULD have somehow been moved to a hospital when things started getting really bad in the week before his death. On the other hand... jesus, just LOOK at him. And it apparently took him less than a year to get that way. I sympathize with the depression over the parents, but letting himself go that much... that is NOT the government's fault.

I wonder how much action these family members took to get him to a hospital before he died. If he was in bed for four months, someone had to be bringing him food.

How ya doing, buddy?

I don't get why they would blame the government in the first place. He might be "popular" but when shit hits the wall, it's not the governments responsibility to get him the help he needs.

If the family knew he was sick, they should've just gotten the ton of lard to the hospital themselves. The family is just looking to blame someone for their stupid mistake of not getting him there earlier.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

One day I want to get that fat so that I can have free rides in the shovel of a front loader.

On a side note, doesn't this put Mo0 in first place now?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I always consider the utilisation of a rag of a stick as the highlight of morbid obesity.



As for the matter at hand, I think it's unfortunate that the man was in a cycle of depression. That always makes issues such as eating disorders worse, tenfold. The government could probably have done something, but it's still a bit of a grey area in terms of responsibility. There's only so much you can do with a man who weighs half a ton.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Such as giving him a little less food.

I was speaking idiomatically.

But perhaps, if he was in a state of depression, he would've killed himself if his expansive "sustenance" wasn't available.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

The end result is the same either way, and then the family ends up with a smaller grocery bill.

Sounds like the correct course of action to me.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Muzza

The government could probably have done something

Or he could himself.

Should've asked for help when he got depressed or family should've noticed and acted at that point.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Chaotic

If the family knew he was sick, they should've just gotten the ton of lard to the hospital themselves. The family is just looking to blame someone for their stupid mistake of not getting him there earlier.

Wow, that's really sensitive there. With supportive people like you around, I wonder why these things happen. Would your reaction be the same if he had been anorexic and starved himself to death, while pleading for help on TV before?

Of course it isn't the government's fault that he weighed so much. Somebody had to be bringing him the food, and it was his own maladaptive behaviour. But depression is a major factor in eating disorders, and grief makes it worse.

I feel bad for the man. He did have an illness, and did not receive proper support for it from either the medical sector or his family. I can see why there were would be physical and financial difficulties in helping him, but it was obviously possible for his family to get him out of there once he had died...so why not before? If a life is in danger, there has to be a greater joint effort to find a way.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Traveller87

Wow, that's really sensitive there. With supportive people like you around, I wonder why these things happen. Would your reaction be the same if he had been anorexic and starved himself to death, while pleading for help on TV before?

Surprise, asshole. People don't give a fuck about folks who may or may not have a mental disorder. People...on the internet, no less.

Eat a dick. If a fat guy continues to gobble burritos made out of donuts and dies because of it, do you really expect us to do anything but lulz?

Fuck off.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Terminus

Should've asked for help when he got depressed...

Spoken like someone who's never been depressed.

See, that's the thing about depression, it's a general feeling of hopelessness. Asking for help in that state of mind feels like a rather futile gesture. He had to come to grips with the loss of both parents in the same fortnight, that's a lot for anyone to handle - not only the fat person but his entire family.

Quote:

...or family should've noticed and acted at that point.

Again, they just dealt with the loss of the two parents. Aside from the typical grieving period each individual must deal with, they probably had to tend to the estate and oversee all the funerial costs. That's a lot of work, I've done it. Plus, depression isn't something that happens in one day, it's gradual and for people whose lives have been temporarily turned on end, I imagine it might be quite easy to overlook the signs of depression because it's just not a priority.

Plus, think about it - the guy was already an overeater and rarely moved from one spot. Spotting depression in this case might be just a smidge harder than your cynical mind suspects.

But he eventually did seek help. He addressed his own depression and was willing to do something about it. His government basically responded with "No, we're not gonna bother." I know it's not the government's fault that he let his condition sink so low but I also don't think he was asking for the moon. "Take me to a place where I can receive the proper attention and care" is a far cry from "Use your magic to make me skinny again!"

I guess I feel a bit poorly for him. He made a last-ditch plea and the only person who answered was the other fattie down the highway - and his answer was "Here, eat this, you'll feel better." Kinda sad.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Crash Landon

Spoken like someone who's never been depressed.

See, that's the thing about depression, it's a general feeling of hopelessness. Asking for help in that state of mind feels like a rather futile gesture. He had to come to grips with the loss of both parents in the same fortnight, that's a lot for anyone to handle - not only the fat person but his entire family.



Again, they just dealt with the loss of the two parents. Aside from the typical grieving period each individual must deal with, they probably had to tend to the estate and oversee all the funerial costs. That's a lot of work, I've done it. Plus, depression isn't something that happens in one day, it's gradual and for people whose lives have been temporarily turned on end, I imagine it might be quite easy to overlook the signs of depression because it's just not a priority.

Plus, think about it - the guy was already an overeater and rarely moved from one spot. Spotting depression in this case might be just a smidge harder than your cynical mind suspects.

But he eventually did seek help. He addressed his own depression and was willing to do something about it. His government basically responded with "No, we're not gonna bother." I know it's not the government's fault that he let his condition sink so low but I also don't think he was asking for the moon. "Take me to a place where I can receive the proper attention and care" is a far cry from "Use your magic to make me skinny again!"

I guess I feel a bit poorly for him. He made a last-ditch plea and the only person who answered was the other fattie down the highway - and his answer was "Here, eat this, you'll feel better." Kinda sad.

Propped, propped, propped. I agree completely, nothing else I could say would make a difference.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Does a person become qualified to receive monetary support from the government after gaining too much weight to function normally?

I always wonder how these people afford all that food. I can't imagine all of it comes from the family in every case. What happens then?

I was speaking idiomatically.

Wow, here comes Crash Landon to play the empathy card! What a surprise!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Yeah, well I suppose I know a thing or two about asking for assistance in dealing with a debilitating health condition.

It grants some perspective.

FELIPE NO

I think the family had a case for asking for help right up until the guy got bed-ridden. After that, as he's clearly unable to get his own food, they had to be feeding him and obviously they weren't just feeding him the 1,000 or so calories a day a recumbent needs. I'm pretty sure you don't have to be a doctor to realise that when someone weighs a fucking ton, they could do with eating less yet they kept feeding him until he died. If you did that to a dog you'd get prosecuted for animal cruelty in this country so I fail to see how doing it to a person allows you to blame someone else when that person carps it. Anyway, it's not like he was unaware of his situation. The fat fuck was in the Guinnes book of records which means someone called them to show him off, more than likely a family member or even himself. I have no sympathy for fatties at the best of times, the ones that eat themselves into the grave are especially pathetic.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Isn't obesity considered a disability? Along with stupidity? And ugliness?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Shin

I think the family had a case for asking for help right up until the guy got bed-ridden. After that, as he's clearly unable to get his own food, they had to be feeding him and obviously they weren't just feeding him the 1,000 or so calories a day a recumbent needs. I'm pretty sure you don't have to be a doctor to realise that when someone weighs a fucking ton, they could do with eating less yet they kept feeding him until he died. If you did that to a dog you'd get prosecuted for animal cruelty in this country so I fail to see how doing it to a person allows you to blame someone else when that person carps it. Anyway, it's not like he was unaware of his situation. The fat fuck was in the Guinnes book of records which means someone called them to show him off, more than likely a family member or even himself. I have no sympathy for fatties at the best of times, the ones that eat themselves into the grave are especially pathetic.

It is surprisingly difficult to help these kinds of people lose weight, actually. There have been a ton of ton-sized people who died by well-meaning but idiot attempts to get them to lose weight; commonly through heart attack or starvation (f'real). It's not something your familly should undertake lightly since it requires professional help, but unfortunately there's a lot of vultures who would love to popularize their diets off of the mega-fatties like this Zone Diet guy.

Anyway, the family may have a claim if they were asking for emergency transport that the government denied them, but outside of that, the guy was going to die anyway. It's pretty sad all around.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I think a major contributing factor to the amount of fatties around these days is that schools are cracking down so hard on bullying. When I was a kid, the fat kid got picked on, mercilessly, all day every day. What this did was encourage them to lose some weight so they wouldn't get picked on (Either that or point out there was someone more deserving of a kicking, normally the ginger kid). This then set in all the kids minds that being a fatty is a bad thing and as such, nobody wanted to be one when they grew up.

These days you've got all this bullshit about how kids aren't allowed to hit the fat kids or even call them names. All this does is make excuses for the chunky fucks, makes them think that it's in any way socially acceptable to be fat and does nothing to encourage them to lose weight. It's only when they grow up a bit they realise that being fat is incredibly socially debilitating and means you're far less likely to find gainful emplotyment, form meaningful relationships with anyone other than other fatties and that you'll die young and leave a blubbery, greasy corpse. By the time they realise this though they're already locked into the cycle of comfort eating and the realisation that they're going to be a social outcast forever only makes them eat more, rather than having the effect it would have if they'd realised earlier of making them, you know, actually try to lose some fucking weight.

Basically, fat people are pathetic and the faster they die off the better it is for the rest of society.

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by Shin

Basically, fat people are pathetic and the faster they die off the better it is for the rest of society.

You just hurt the feelings of 95% of GFF's population.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Shin forgot to add that when you're a fattie, the kids are chucking rocks and tin cans and tree weasels at you, which makes you run away from them - hence exercise is brought into the mix.

I was speaking idiomatically.

LOL at the idea of bullies only messing with the fat kids.

Your forehead's sloping, Shin.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Rotorblade

LOL at the idea of bullies only messing with the fat kids.

Your forehead's sloping, Shin.

I'd like to see you point out exactly where I said bullies only messed with fat kids. Bullies pick on lots of people, including fat kids. Fat kids are a much easier target than many groups however and crucially, are in a position to do something to stop being bullied, lose some weight.

The ginger kids could shave their heads I guess and most of the ones I knew did just that, the kids with thick glasses coud get contacts and the fat kids could lose weight. I have a bit of sympathy for the kid who lived on a farm and got bullied for smelling of shit, there wasn't a lot he could do about that. I also felt sorry for the kid with a lazy eye, again, not a lot he could do about it. The fat kids though were and still are masters of their own destiny and deserve everything they get.

I'd appreciate it if in future you'd do me the courtesy reading what I write, not what you want me to have said.

FELIPE NO

I know what you said, Shin, but certainly you're the best troll ever (and it crossed my mind that it's the case here) if you think that it'd seem like bullies are a contributing factor to weight loss and not a contributing factor to human suffering. The fact you don't look at the symptom of the system involved, given how "do nothing" most teachers are in many areas are, the fact we believe our stupid shit children could ever properly police themselves given how fucking worthless we've progressively made the lessons they learn.

I suppose, you know, we could actually just have policy in place to charge fat kids extra for food, the space they inhabit, and then let them realize that being fat tends to not make you any friends or get you dates.... but seriously, bullies? Dude, don't be simple.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

All I have to offer in the field of educational psychology is my personal experience and that is that the kids who got bullied for being fat at school when I was a kid took steps to lose weight and are now not fatties whereas these days, there's a nonsense culture of telling kids that you can't laugh at the fat kids, implying that it's ok to be fat, which, as we all know, it isn't. What you're saving them in short-term anguish, you're more than making up for by condemning them to a lifetime of social exclusion and an early grave.

The world's a pretty horrible place generally and if you let kids grow up soft they'll just end up being a pathetic drain on the system in later life. We need to break kids out of the cycle of dependence early on and make the fat fuckers fend for themselves, they'll thank us for it when they're older.

Jam it back in, in the dark.