Posted on 03/08/2007 1:11:12 PM PST by DeerfieldObserver
Manuel Uribe, who once weighed half a ton, left his house on Wednesday for the first time in five years.
Six people pushed Uribe's wheel-equipped iron bed out to the street, as a mariachi band played and a crowd gathered to see the man who once weighed 1,235 pounds.
"It's nice [being outside]. Many thanks to my travelling Mariachis," Uribe said after taking a sip from a champagne bottle.
Unable to leave his bed for more than five years, Uribe has lost 397 pounds since he began a high-protein diet a year ago. He now weighs about 840 pounds.
To celebrate the milestone, a forklift lifted Uribe's bed onto a trailer pulled by a pickup truck and the 41-year-old mechanic rode through the streets of San Nicolas de los Garza, a Monterrey suburb.
"I'm very proud of him and very happy. I hope God continues to give him the strength to move forward," Uribe's neighbour, Leonor Garza said.
Uribe was a chubby kid, weighing more than 250 pounds as an adolescent.
In 1992, he said his weight began to balloon further.
Since the summer of 2002, Uribe has been bedridden, relying on his mother and friends to feed and clean him.
He drew worldwide attention when he pleaded for help on national television in January 2006.
Afterwards, an Italian and a Spanish doctor both visited and offered him gastric bypass surgery.
But Uribe chose to accept help from Mexican nutritionists working with the Zone diet which he says he will stick to until he reaches his goal weight of 265 pounds.
Doctors say it may take between three and four years for Uribe to reach his goal.
Uribe said he plans to start a foundation to help overweight people get medical assistance and teach them about healthy eating habits.
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how are those girls?...God bless them....
Can't imagine their trials and tribulations........
The girls are entirely inspirational. I saw pieces of the show--I too surfed--and was impressed by them!!! They move about in a totally coordinated way...but each of them controls one side of their body.
Their parents have given them the tools they'll need in life--including no self-pity. It seemed that the only thing that really ticked 'em off was people taking their pictures without asking them first.
okay, so we can put blame on him and others like him for being glutons, but what about people who are just plain old MEAN AND STUPID?
The fifty year old man who lives in a $400 a month studio b/c his parents weren't good students? Is he to be coddled still, now that his own offspring are facing the same fate? Personal responsibility has to be a factor, at some time or another.
I dont know why so many here are so "mean" just like in their high school days, the class bully always taunting or putting someone else down for what reason?
It is outrages many with this behavior belong over at DU!
You're probably right. However, I admire his courage to try and lose weight the old fashioned way. Like I said earlier, I pray for his success, and that he is able to pay it forward after getting to his goal weight.
People are anonymous here, so their worst instincts sometimes prevail. If you knew them in person, I suspect that they are nicer people?
Hey! Good for you! If only the rest of us got to split our speeding tickets with someone else. ;-)
Now go turn up the radio and hit the road!
Morbid obesity is a medical term re: serious health issues present, or soon to be present, is it not? Not just a term to describe being too fat. I think it is a misconception for many.
It is easy to for many here to gang up on this person.
When are we as a people going to realized even if he never reads this forum thought are things and have energy and all that is going out here is very sabotaging energy that so many of you fling out into the ether!
Its like the power of prayer only this is underminding prayers!
Unfortunately, that's not how it works. Your character is defined by who you are when nobody is looking...and especially when nobody knows who you are. A place like this is often an amazing "exposer of character." There are folks here I have come to respect beyond measure, and others who are a tremendous disappointment. Just like in real life.
Hope I'm not the latter!
You think he earn some ridicule?
Do you know his heart or mind?
Do you know just like you he too is a child of the Lord?
I think we all got caught up over the years in the put down comedy show of one liners that some how we lost our humanity!
don't mean to single you out you are one of many...
In fairness, I think this guy needs to take some responsibility for his condition. No one has been forcing food down his mouth.
I agree, Resty. It's great that he's losing the weight. I wish him much luck.
I don't care if he got himself into the condition or not, there is no real call for ridiculing a person who has become so large that he cannot even leave his bedroom. You think he doesn't know he's fat? The man, even in his condition, lost nearly 400 pounds. That's an amazing feat. He should be applauded for that and encouraged to continue to meet his goal of slimming down to 265. I can guarantee that if he acheives that goal, he won't stop there. It will be because he has changed his life and his habits forever. I know this because I have a friend who, at his worst, weighed 600lbs. In the span of about a year and a half, he had dropped below 300 and is now in the 220 range. He, like the man in this story, eschewed the surgery route. He did it all through diet and exercise, and there's not a chance he'll ever go back up. And, it should be noted, he never once blamed anyone else for his condition. Like beating alcoholism, it takes being honest with yourself and admitting your own guilt. God bless this man. With a little luck and a lot of work, he may save his life.
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