Keith Martin, The Fattest Man In The World, Dies At 44

Keith Martin, the British man who was named fattest man in the world at 980 pounds, has died of pneumonia at 44.

Eight months ago, Martin underwent a gastric sleeve operation that removed three-quarters of his stomach, and had been bedridden for the remaining months of his life. It is unclear if the pneumonia he developed was caused by the procedure.

Martin was the subject of a documentary made for Channel 5 in the UK called 70 Stone and Almost Dead. He detailed the loss of his mother at 16 (she also died from pneumonia) which made him very depressed. By his early 20s, Martin was overeating to compensate for his depression and was gaining serious weight.

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

According to The Daily Mirror, Martin consumed approximately 20,000 calories a day. His diet included six-egg fried breakfasts, and lunches and dinners with pizza, kebabs, takeout food and Big Macs. 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,” Dr. Kesava Mannur said. Mannur is the surgeon who fitted Martin with his gastric belt earlier this year. “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.”