Chronicle Editor
MEXICO CITY. — The world’s most obese man in Mexico is about to undergo weight-loss treatment, local media reported on Wednesday. Juan Pedro Franco (32), weighing nearly half a tonne, was transported Tuesday night by a specially-adapted van from his hometown of Aguascalientes in central Mexico, to a private clinic in the city of Guadalajara in western Mexico.“To date, there has been no patient on the planet that weighs this much,” his surgeon Jose Antonio Castaneda Cruz said.
Franco, who suffers from morbid obesity, diabetes and hypothyroidism, “was in a good mood last night as photo and video cameras filmed his admission to the clinic,” the daily El Debate said on its website.
“He took his cellphone and snapped several photos of the reporters, and said jokingly, ‘this is so you know how it feels,'” the daily said.
Franco was born with a normal weight of 3.5 kilogrammes but kept increasing at the rate of 10 kg every year, attaining 60 kg at the age of six.
At the age of 17 and weighing 200 kg, his mobility was severely reduced following an injury from an accident, he told reporters. Thereafter his weight increased even faster due to inability to move around with ease and exercise.
Castaneda told reporters the plan is to have Franco lose some weight over the next six months to prepare him for bariatric surgery.
“We are being cautious. We are seeing how much weight he can lose in order to operate on him,” Castaneda said.
“Due to the difficulty of the trip, his glucose levels are out of control,” he added. Franco contacted the clinic after coming across their weight-loss treatments online. — Xinhua.
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