Half-Ton Man Ventures Out After Five Years

Associated Press ^

[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.

[restornu]

I agree we all done stupid things in our life etc.

But look at this thead there hardly anything here to say good about many of us freepers. This man is a stranger no one really knows the circumstance.

A few weeks ago there was an article in the papaer where the government want to take a child away form its mother for being an enabler to her 8 year old son because he was 250 lbs.

Who to say that was not his childhood situation?

The harshness that is going in this thread is not going to help this man it only adds to his situation!.

Who appointed us to judge and to ridicule this man who is trying?

I am sure many have never thought of it that way before and just followed our lower self to demean another human being!

I think in the future when this kind of thing happens on a thread good freepers ought to come forward and remind those who forgot to let their light shine and or say nothing.

Our we any better the DU when this type of behavior takes place?

Have you ever thought how many misplaced souls vote with the DU because they been on the receiving end of this kind of abuse and see us doing this think that is who we really our?

We would like good government let us deserve it, by using our freedoms better than this!

[DeerfieldObserver]

I am a little tired of all the lectures here. The man's appearance is outlandish, and he is the one who is putting all that food in his mouth. Why not criticize him for his irresponsible behavior?


You will notice no one said anything negative about the twin conjoined twin girls. They obviously had nothing to do with their predicament. Fat Boy did.

[restornu]

It is sad you don't get it!

[fr_freak]

I've been keeping it fairly light-hearted so far, but I'm going to give you a serious answer now:

I completely reject your attitude toward this whole thread. One of the strongest contributing factors to the moral decline of the West is the reluctance these days to hold anyone acountable for their own behavior. Many Christian denominations which were once true followers of Biblical teaching are now more fluff than substance, all because they have rejected the concept of personal responsibility and accountability.

One only has to look at the Episcopalian church in the US to see a prime example of this. They have rejected the strict demands of God and Christ in favor of this mushy-headed moral relativism that says we cannot say anything negative about the homosexuals who have overrun the clergy, or condemn their behavior, because that would be judgemental, and who are we to say what behavior is appropriate, or what is right and what is wrong. Meanwhile, those who wish to promote sinful, unhealthy, or otherwise undesirable behavior get free rein to do as they please because those who would normally be the guardians of morality now lack the moral character to stand up for even the smallest amount of decency. Thus, the breakdown.

Now, as that applies to this thread, we have seen nothing to believe anything other than that this man brought this condition upon himself by eating too much, prompting some here to poke fun. There may be better ways to spend one's time, but its not as if we're outside his house with torches and pitchforks. It's just a thread on a website, and I'll be damned if I'll have someone tell me that we should treat this man as a victim and hold his self-afflicted condition as sacred.

[restornu]

ok we all have free will, you can believe what you want, but I also know this is not an act of love!