22, 2017 (Reuters)
GUADALAJARA, Jalisco, Mexico (Reuters) — A Mexican man who weighed more than half a ton had surgery in Guadalajara on Wednesday (November 22) in a bid to halve his weight.
Juan Pedro Franco, 33, has been dubbed the world’s heaviest man. Earlier this year he reportedly weighed as much as 595 kilos (1,311 pounds). But after a three-month diet Franco has reportedly shed 175 kilos in a special clinic to allow him to have the surgery.
“To be able to move more, to sit in the bed alone, to lie in the bed alone. These are things that I couldn’t do, to get into bed alone. Now there is a little more movement, there is more freedom in the bed and that is where I’m starting to move more. I started to take two, three steps and this has made me very happy and motivated,” Franco said.
According to reports, Franco has been bed-ridden for some seven years, having battled with obesity since his late teens.
“In about a year and a half we will see how much of a percentage of the weight has been lost, how many illnesses could have been controlled. With this there will be an evaluation to see if the surgery was a success. We would like to take him to 120 kilos (264 pounds) but we need to remember he has two tumors in his legs, he will have excess skin and this represents a weight that can’t currently be quantified,” Franco’s doctor, Jorge Castaneda, said.
Success in the operation is not guaranteed. Following the one-hour procedure, Franco will have to undergo 72 hours of intensive therapy to aid his recovery.