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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - A man who once weighed more than half a
ton has lost 321 pounds under the care of a team of doctors and
hopes to lose 450 pounds more.
Patrick Deuel, 42, of Valentine, Neb., weighed 1,072 pounds when
he was admitted to Sioux Falls' Avera McKennan Hospital eight weeks
ago. Deuel, who is just under 6 feet tall, is on a 1,200
calorie-a-day diet.
``If we hadn't gotten him here, he'd be dead now,'' said Fred
Harris, Deuel's lead doctor.
The former restaurant manager has been bedridden since last
fall. He has battled heart failure, thyroid problems, diabetes,
pulmonary hypertension and arthritis, and needed help just to roll
over in bed.
``Until recently, I wasn't able to see any light at the end of
the tunnel,'' he said Monday from his hospital bed.
A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for
Deuel to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be
weighed.
According to the Guinness World Records Web site, the record for
heaviest man in the world is 1,397 pounds, held by Jon Brower
Minnoch of Bainbridge, Wash., who died in 1983.
Deuel, who has battled weight problems all his life and blames
his condition in part on genetics, said it took months to find a
hospital. Hospitals closer to his home balked at admitting him, he
said.
``I got scared because I couldn't help him anymore, and I didn't
know who would help him,'' said his wife, Edith.
Harris said Deuel's care could cost millions of dollars, much of
which the hospital may have to cover. Officials found a special
ambulance, and hospital workers joined two beds to accommodate
Deuel.
One of Deuel's goals is to walk out of the hospital. He also
wants to go to a Nebraska Cornhuskers football game, and just take
a walk with his wife.
``Even though he's faced negativity all these years, he's not a
negative person,'' Edith Deuel said. ``He's almost always been able
to stay bubbly and make jokes and be happy.''
ton has lost 321 pounds under the care of a team of doctors and
hopes to lose 450 pounds more.
Patrick Deuel, 42, of Valentine, Neb., weighed 1,072 pounds when
he was admitted to Sioux Falls' Avera McKennan Hospital eight weeks
ago. Deuel, who is just under 6 feet tall, is on a 1,200
calorie-a-day diet.
``If we hadn't gotten him here, he'd be dead now,'' said Fred
Harris, Deuel's lead doctor.
The former restaurant manager has been bedridden since last
fall. He has battled heart failure, thyroid problems, diabetes,
pulmonary hypertension and arthritis, and needed help just to roll
over in bed.
``Until recently, I wasn't able to see any light at the end of
the tunnel,'' he said Monday from his hospital bed.
A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for
Deuel to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be
weighed.
According to the Guinness World Records Web site, the record for
heaviest man in the world is 1,397 pounds, held by Jon Brower
Minnoch of Bainbridge, Wash., who died in 1983.
Deuel, who has battled weight problems all his life and blames
his condition in part on genetics, said it took months to find a
hospital. Hospitals closer to his home balked at admitting him, he
said.
``I got scared because I couldn't help him anymore, and I didn't
know who would help him,'' said his wife, Edith.
Harris said Deuel's care could cost millions of dollars, much of
which the hospital may have to cover. Officials found a special
ambulance, and hospital workers joined two beds to accommodate
Deuel.
One of Deuel's goals is to walk out of the hospital. He also
wants to go to a Nebraska Cornhuskers football game, and just take
a walk with his wife.
``Even though he's faced negativity all these years, he's not a
negative person,'' Edith Deuel said. ``He's almost always been able
to stay bubbly and make jokes and be happy.''
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