Help Arrives For 700-Pound Woman

(CBS)  After her story aired on CBS 11 News in Dallas/Fort Worth Monday night, Karen Ferguson was told that help was on the way.

At 700 pounds, she could not leave her own home to get the medical help she needs. After seeing her story, White Settlement Rehabilitation Clinic in Texas accepted her case. An ambulance crew came to take Ferguson to the clinic Tuesday. It was the first time in a year she was out in the sunshine.

To begin getting her out of the house, crews first had to get her out of the house, taking apart the banister on her handicap ramp outside. Then they brought in a special stretcher that holds 1,800 pounds.

"A miracle. Nothing short of a miracle," said Ferguson's daughter, Jerry Tedder.

Now a day-to-day fight to survive has some long term hope for living.

"She has the abilities to get out and get better. It's all in the matter of her will power, and I believe she's got it," said paramedic Chris Freed. "She's come this far and now it's up to her and her abilities to continue."

Ferguson said she's scared and somewhat embarrassed about her condition.

"I would never bring myself down to go on the news looking like this," said Ferguson on the news report. "I would wish it'd be for a cure or that I'm doing good or something. But not like this. It's hard on the family."

She also said she is excited that her lonely condition is about to come to an end.

Here's the story and the video:

Local Video from CBS 11 / TXA 21 in Dallas/Fort Worth

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[breakingthewaves]

Words of unconditional compassion are no more helpful to her than insults. The only kindness she needs must come from herself, not from strangers who don't know her and have co-opted or internalized her issues for their own purposes. She has to learn to like herself enough to get healthy again, and it must happen without the enabling and without the stupid, mean comments.

Since you spammed your blog on this site, let me say a few things about your blog:

1. She is 700 lbs. She is not the 250 or 300 lbs you were/are. Different ballgame.

2. It IS largely a matter of putting down the fork and being active. You did not lose a great deal of weight like you have bragged about. In fact, you regained about half of what you lost since last year and you did so because you didn't put down the fork.

3. You blame your overeating on an eating disorder, like it's a medical condition. Well, if it's a medical condition, then treat it like one and get help. Don't use "eating disorder" as a shield for your lack of willpower and then spam your blog containing empty words of advice/empowerment and product reviews (of stuff you later binge on) under the guise of helping others when you barely have your act together. Get off the computer, put down the fork. Go get help if you really think you can't do it yourself.

700 pounds is unacceptable. She's not going to lose weight with hugs. She's not going to lose it by insults. Heck, she probably beat herself up worse than anyone here. She will or will not make it. It's up to her.

[LynRocks2007]

If it was a simple matter of "putting down the fork" and exercising, there would not be millions of obese people in the country. Many of us WANT to lose weight but struggle... not out of laziness or ignorance... but because of disordered eating. Binge eating disorder is real. It is not easily overcome. And many who suffer have no idea how to conquer their extremely intense drive to eat.I wan't always fat. And I won't always BE fat. If you saw me walking down the street, maybe you'd think, "the fat cow!" When in fact, I have lost a considerable amount of weight, exercise daily, lift weights, and probably eat more vegetables in a day than you eat in a week. It's a lot of work. It's not as easy as you might think to lose weight when you have an eating disorder, just as you cannot tell an anorexic to "just eat" and she will suddenly be a normal weight and be well. It doesn't work that way.

My blog: www.escapefromobesity.blogspot.com

[puzzler125]

I wish her well but again something troubles me about people who get to such tremendous weights. Who is bringing them the food? Enabling relatives who can't say no? People with absolutely no conscious or sense of what constitutes normal eating habits? No one gets to be this obese without at least one person bringing home the food, over and over and OVER!

[godfirstcountrysecond]

I will tell you that I have tried without avail to loos weight after my second child. They determined my thyroid was not functioning properly. I would have never known if I wasn't so tired and my menstral cycle didn't wig out on me. I though I was pregnant again. NO THANKS. So I can see where some people might not be able to loose the weight and get frustrated and give up without knowing that they needed a little boost.

[andie52]

ireslinger

Some addictions as you call them are quite benign. A family enabling a 300 pound woman to balloon to 700 pounds needs as much counseling as this woman. I would venture to say there was a symbiotic relationship between them and the patient, When she could no longer get out of bed who do you think fed her?

[honestabe8]

She's 24. Is'nt she beautiful. More ounce to the bounce.
Posted by meatrex1

Count the folds until you get to one that smells like poop, then back up one?

[meatrex1]

She's 24. Is'nt she beautiful. More ounce to the bounce.

[honestabe8]

i hope she lives a long and healthy life because of it.
Posted by jenagain

at that weight, i don't know that i see a long and healthy life. at least healthy. did the article say how old she is? i didn't see it.

[honestabe8]

tireslinger: for me, it's caffeine and exercise

[honestabe8]

No, I think they have a loading dock around back.
Posted by DaVicar5

They put it there for Jerry Fartwell