MEXICO: World's Fattest Man Has Shed 230kg Of 570kg, Plans To Lose Another 110kg

Manuel Uribe, who once weighed half a tonne, sits on his bed while being driven around his neighbourhood last year.Photo: AP

MONTERREY, Mexico (Sydney Morning Herald - AFP),
February 13, 2008:

The world's fattest man, according to the book of Guinness World Records, today proudly announced he had dropped 230 kilograms - nearly half his original weight - in less time than doctors had expected.

"I'm going to throw a big party," Manuel Uribe, who lives in Monterrey, northern Mexico, said. "I'm getting out of my house and going for a walk," he said.

Mr Uribe, 42, weighed in at 570 kilograms at his heaviest and, for five years, has been bedridden at his home, where his mother and fiancee help him.

Doctors from the United States, Italy and Mexico have been helping Mr Uribe lose weight through dieting and exercise for two years. His goal was to drop to a slim 120 kilograms in four more years, he said.

On March 9, Mr Uribe will be lifted out of his house on his bed by a special crane and driven around on a flat-bed truck.

"I feel great," he said. "The doctors say I'm healthier than ever."

Copyright © 2008. The Sydney Morning Herald.