Half-Ton Man Vows To Stand Up For Wedding

Mexico Man Who Weighed More Than 1,200 Pounds Celebrates Birthday Says He Is In Love

(AP)  Manuel Uribe, who once weighed a half ton but has slimmed down to about 700 pounds, celebrates his 43rd birthday on Wednesday with a simple wish for the coming year: to be able to stand on his own two feet to get married.

Interviewed at his home in northern Mexico, where he can still do little more than sit up on a bed, Uribe said more than two years of steady dieting have helped him drop about 550 pounds from his Guinness record weight of 1,235 pounds.

He hopes Guinness representatives will confirm in July that he holds a second title: The world's greatest loser of weight.

But Uribe is still unable to walk his fiancee, Claudia Solis, down the aisle.

"It frustrates me a little, because it is not easy to get out," said Uribe, who has not been able to leave bed for the last six years.

His most recent attempt to escape the house - to attend Solis' 38th birthday party in March - fell through when a flatbed tow truck brought to transport his reinforced bed got caught beneath an underpass.

But Uribe vowed not to be deterred: "We are in love, and this year my birthday wish is to be able to stand when we get married," he said.

Uribe said he met Solis, a 38-year-old hairdresser, four years ago. They have been together for the last two.

"We are a couple," Uribe said. "We have sex, and in the eyes of God we are already married."

Proudly showing off her sparkling engagement ring, Solis said life with a heavyweight is not always easy.

"I bathe him every day, and we get along very well," she said. "At times, yes, people say things ... that it's a fake relationship, but what we have is real."

Solis said her family initially opposed the match with Uribe, because her first husband, who was also obese, died of respiratory failure.

"They were worried about me being involved with another fat man, because they thought another husband would die on me," she said.

Uribe, a former auto parts dealer, said his birthday party Wednesday will be a low-key dinner with the family.

"We were going to go out, but the last time out scared me so much," he said. "When we crashed into the lighting conduits on the underpass, I thought we were going to get an electric shock."

Uribe said his weight problem spiraled out of control after he moved to the United States for a few years in 1988 and indulged in a nonstop diet of junk food and soft drinks.

A botched liposuction that damaged his lymph nodes left him with giant tumors on both legs weighing a total of 220 pounds. The tumors are the main reason he is unable to walk.

"It is all because of the junk food," he said.

About two years ago, a team of doctors stepped in to help Uribe change his eating habits and tackle his extreme obesity.

Today he says he eats small portions of food five times a day, including chicken, ham, egg-white omelets, fruit and vegetables. Sitting in bed, Uribe exercises his arms with pull-ups and by pedaling with his hands.

Hoping his struggle will inspire others, he plans to launch the Manuel Uribe Foundation this year to educate people about nutrition and to combat obesity - a growing problem in Mexico.

Solis is focused more on the present.

"It is a miracle he is still alive," she said. "He's going to turn 43, and that is something we have to celebrate."

[trishab4]

CBS: Solis said her family initially opposed the match with Uribe, because her first husband, who was also obese, died of respiratory failure.

-I don''t wanna be mean, but this thought came to my mind! her first husband died when his nipples obstructed his nose, killing him on the spot!

[libloser]

year my birthday wish is to be able to stand when we get married," he said.... how about standing up and getting a job? you d.AMN FATSO!!

[xtina100-2009]

Yeah, it''s scary to see McDeaths in Paris, and Domino''s in Khartoum. What kind of contribution to the world is that? Get rid of this garbage, god knows it''s killing us!

Back in the 80''s I was travelling a lot and I happened to eat fast food for a week with very little healthy food. Man, I got so sick - my body felt like *hit. I can''t eat the *rap - it is poison for my body, and I wonder how other people eat it - maybe they are built sturdier than me to withstand it? At any rate, it is poison and makes you fat - cease eating it!

[dobbershome]

SharnCedar:

Stop that naughty talk your killing me.

[nothappyatall]

Wow that will be some wedding night. Imagine the joy of that bride, that greasy fat slapping her backside, the sweat pouring off his greasy Mexican body, his grunting and panting for breath.

Man, ain''''t love grand?

Posted by SharnCedar"

YECCCHHH!!! I can not only picture it I can SMELL it, the fat fold rot and fungus. Its a wonder he can even find his little....

It amazes me how much skin can stretch and grow.

[sharncedar]

Wow that will be some wedding night. Imagine the joy of that bride, that greasy fat slapping her backside, the sweat pouring off his greasy Mexican body, his grunting and panting for breath.

Man, ain''t love grand?

[libloser]

no good fat ffkker!!

[rushlimpdrug]

He ain''t heavy.

He''s my brother.

[barbaraf4]

Posted by HB670

Agreed!

[sociald63]

yo rushlimpdurg - the trailer collapsed

[hb670]

"Maybe not. Obesity is a symptom. If it was as simple as diet and exercise (as the "experts" claim) then there would be no obesity. There is a very high rate of failure to maintain weight loss once you are at goal. This man is eating himself into the grave, one forkful at a time. He knows the consequences and yet he is unable to change the behaviors surrounding this disease." Posted by: barbaraf4

I agree with you Barbara, he''s killing himself, but he can''t help it...that''s why I think he has a disability. He can and has changed his weight, although that doesn''t mean once he is able to walk again he won''t go back to eating the fast food. His disability is a physical and mental one. He needs to work on all aspects of his health.

[rushlimpdrug]

If the trailer is rockin''
don''t come knockin''


I''m hungry.

Think I''ll have a half dozen donuts.

Oh what the heck, I''ll just have the
whole dozen.

Anyone going out for chineeeze?

[barbaraf4]

"TWO: He has large tumors in both legs and being that obese is just as much a disability as being in a wheelchair, albeit one he can change." Posted by HB670
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maybe not. Obesity is a symptom. If it was as simple as diet and exercise (as the "experts" claim) then there would be no obesity. There is a very high rate of failure to maintain weight loss once you are at goal. This man is eating himself into the grave, one forkful at a time. He knows the consequences and yet he is unable to change the behaviors surrounding this disease.

[usjpn4u]

Why make a negative comment when America as a country is obese now, do something positive to change the situation. But we judge and say ah look at that when it''s not just his problem it''s our problem first as a nation who leads the world with our good and bad habits. He''s made alot of progress and is going in the right direction. How many people can say they lost five hundred pounds and are still losting weight?

[hb670]

For Nokoolaid
"Wow! What an accomplishment! Standing up! That''''''''s incredible!Posted by ddhinnyc

On behalf of all people in wheelchairs, thanks for your compassion."

ONE: The article had nothing to do with people in wheelchairs, so why do you have to make it about you? I suspect you probably do that with a lot of things.

TWO: He has large tumors in both legs and being that obese is just as much a disability as being in a wheelchair, albeit one he can change. BUT for him standing up is an accomplishment. Be happy for him, not bitter!

[cyberus-2009]

----
I agree with you...and not only that he hasn''''t been able to leave his bed in six years and only started eating healthy the last two, who was bringing him the un-healthy food the four years before that? It''''s good that he lost 500 lbs. and I hope he succeeds in losing alot more.

Posted by azcagirl
----

Anytime I see one of these cases I wonder why the media never seems to take notice of the fact that there is *NO WAY* they could have done it on their own ... *SOMEONE* had to help them get this way.
While this case isn''t in the US there are cases like it, and it makes me wonder why they prosecute the guy that allowed his girlfriend to live in the bathroom for abuse, and the person that feeds another person into immobility and beyond is ignored.

[cyberus-2009]

---
The man has a food addiction.
American fast food or used saturated cooking oil is a large part of the problem.
How can anyone stand the smell and taste of chicken covered in cooking oil that has been saturated .
(cut for length)
Posted by donnybd8
----

Did you even read the article?

This guy isn''t nor was in America .. he lives in Mexico.

[megamanx1-2009]

YOU KNOW IT''S BAD WHEN YOU LOSE 550 POUNDS AND YOU''RE STILL MORBIDLY OBESE LOL.

WITH THAT BEING SAID I APPLAUD THIS GUY FOR TRYING TO WORK OUT. HOPE HE REACHES HIS GOAL.

[sociald63]

when she gives bubba a bath, does she put him thru the car wash ???!! just wondering