Jon Brower Minnoch

At the age of 12, Minnoch weighed 294 lb (133 kilograms; 21.0 stone) with an estimated height of 5 ft 7 in (170cm),[2] and by age 22 he was 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) in height and weighed 500 lb (230 kilograms; 36 stone).[3] At his heaviest, he was frequently referred to as 'the thickest man in the land.'

Minnoch's weight continued to increase steadily until his hospitalization in March 1978 at age 36 due to cardiac and respiratory failure. That same year, he broke a record for the greatest difference in weight between a married couple when he married his 110-lb (50 kg) wife Jeannette and later fathered two children. Minnoch was diagnosed with massive generalized edema, a condition in which the body accumulates excess extracellular fluid. Upon his hospital admission, it was estimated by endocrinologist Robert Schwartz that over 900 lbs (408 kg) of his overall body mass was retained fluid.[3]

Transportation for Minnoch was extremely difficult. It took over a dozen firemen and rescue personnel and a specially modified stretcher to transport him to University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. There, he was placed on two beds pushed together, and it took 13 people to simply roll him over for linen changes.[3]

Jon was discharged from the hospital after 16 months on a strict diet of 1,200 kcal (5,000 kJ) per day.[3] He weighed 476 lb (216 kg; 34 st), having lost approximately 924 lb (419 kg; 66 st), the second largest human weight loss ever documented.[4] However, he was readmitted to the hospital just over a year later in October 1981, after his weight increased to 952 lb (432 kg; 68 st). With his underlying condition of edema being incurable and difficult to treat, the decision was made to discontinue treatment, and he died 23 months later on September 10, 1983, aged 41. At the time of his death, he weighed 798 lb (362 kg; 57 st) with a Body Mass Index of 105.3.[3]

• Obesity