World's fattest man dies at age 44

 

Keith Martin, 44, died of pneumonia eight months after having surgery to remove as much of your stomach. In total weighed 444 kilos, so the title of world's fattest man won.

Martin had gained weight during adolescence after the death of his mother when he fell into a deep depression. He also reportedly consumed 3.5 liters of coffee and 2 liters of carbonated drinks every day.

“Keith, like many people, had some emotional issues, and he turned to food for comfort,” Kesava Mannur, the surgeon who fitted Martin with his gastric belt at Homerton University Hospital in London, told The Daily Mirror.

“That type of behavior is nothing new, but what is new is how easy it is for people in that situation to buy a lot of cheap food,” said Mannur, who urged the U.K. government to consider a fast-food tax to help the morbidly obese.

Martin shared his story in a documentary that aired in the U.K., according to news.com.au. He said he lost his mother at 16— also to pneumonia— and had struggled with depression and anxiety ever since. He began to gain a serious amount of weight in his 20s, when he was severely depressed.

Martin was unemployed and spent his days playing video games and watching TV.

“I started eating to ease the pain, and before I knew it, I was bingeing every time something upset me,” Martin said during the documentary. “I’ve always been depressed. I am an agoraphobic— I’m afraid of public places— but it was never treated.”