Manuel Uribe
{{Short description|Third-heaviest person in history}}
{{other people}}
{{For|the Uruguayan politician|Manuel Oribe}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{family name hatnote|Uribe|Garza|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Manuel Uribe
| height = 6 ft 5 in
| image = Manuel Uribe.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Uribe on his wedding day in October 2008
| birth_name = Manuel Uribe Garza
| birth_date = {{birth date|1965|6|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|05|26|1965|6|11|df=y}}
| death_place = Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
| other_names =
| known_for = Third heaviest person ever recorded
| occupation = Computer repairman
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|First wife|1987|1992}}
- {{marriage|Claudia Solís|2008|2010}}
}}
}}
Manuel Uribe Garza (11 June 1965 – 26 May 2014) was a Mexican man who was morbidly obese to one of the greatest extents known in recorded history.{{cite web|last=Lynch|first=Kevin|title=Manuel Uribe, the world's heaviest man, passes away at 48|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2014/5/manuel-uribe-the-worlds-heaviest-man-passes-away-at-48-57572/|publisher=Guinness World Records|access-date=28 May 2014|date=27 May 2014|archive-date=31 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531162707/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2014/5/manuel-uribe-the-worlds-heaviest-man-passes-away-at-48-57572|url-status=live}} After reaching a peak weight of around {{convert|600|kg|lb|abbr=on}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mid-day.com/articles/remembering-manuel-uribe-the-worlds-heaviest-man/17324176|title=Remembering Manuel Uribe, the World s Heaviest Man|date=11 June 2016|website=mid-day.com|access-date=10 December 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220090222/http://www.mid-day.com/articles/remembering-manuel-uribe-the-worlds-heaviest-man/17324176|url-status=live}} and having been unable to leave his bed since 2002, he lost approximately {{convert|230|kg|lb|abbr=on}}—over one third of his body weight—with the help of doctors and nutritionists by February 2008.{{cite news|title=World's fattest man drops 230 kilos (507 pounds)|url=http://news.smh.com.au/world/worlds-fattest-man-drops-230-kilos-507-pounds-20080213-1s15.html|access-date=27 May 2014|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=13 February 2008|archive-date=27 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527215030/http://news.smh.com.au/world/worlds-fattest-man-drops-230-kilos-507-pounds-20080213-1s15.html|url-status=live}} However, he died in his hometown on 26 May 2014 weighing {{convert|394|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/05/27/once-the-worlds-heaviest-man-manuel-uribe-dies/?tid=hp_mm |title=Once the world's heaviest man, Manuel Uribe dies | last=McCoy| first=Terrence |date=27 May 2014 |access-date=27 May 2014|newspaper=Washington Post}}
Uribe drew worldwide attention in January 2006, when he made an emotional plea on a Mexican television network that prompted both private and public assistance.{{cite news|last=Rodríguez|first=Olga R.|title=Half-ton Mexican man loses 200 pounds in four months, ponders gastric bypass surgery|url=http://legacy.utsandiego.com/news/mexico/20060626-1414-mexico-half-tonman.html|access-date=28 May 2014|newspaper=San Diego Union-Tribune|date=26 June 2006|agency=Associated Press|archive-date=29 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529052110/http://legacy.utsandiego.com/news/mexico/20060626-1414-mexico-half-tonman.html|url-status=live}} He was also featured on The World's Heaviest Man, a 2007 television documentary about his bedridden life and attempts to overcome his obesity,{{cite web|title=World's Heaviest Man|url=http://press.discovery.com/emea/dsc/programs/worlds-heaviest-man/|publisher=Discovery Channel|access-date=28 May 2014|year=2007|archive-date=27 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527175429/http://press.discovery.com/emea/dsc/programs/worlds-heaviest-man/|url-status=live}} and in The World's Heaviest Man Gets Married, a similar documentary that was broadcast in 2009 by the Discovery Channel.{{cite web|title=World's Heaviest Man Gets Married|url=http://press.discovery.com/emea/dsc/programs/worlds-heaviest-man-gets-married/|publisher=Discovery Channel|access-date=28 May 2014|year=2009|archive-date=29 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529051401/http://press.discovery.com/emea/dsc/programs/worlds-heaviest-man-gets-married/|url-status=live}}
Personal life
Uribe lived in San Nicolás de los Garza, a suburb of Monterrey, Nuevo León, and according to the Associated Press he weighed {{convert|115|kg|lb|abbr=on}} during his adolescence.{{cite news|title=Manuel Uribe, once world's heaviest man, dies in Mexico at age of 49|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/26/manuel-uribe-worlds-heaviest-man-dies-mexico|access-date=27 May 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|date=26 May 2014|agency=Associated Press}} "I used to eat normal, just like all Mexicans do … beans, rice, flour tortilla, corn tortilla, french fries, hamburgers, subs and pizzas, whatever regular people eat".{{cite news|last1=Bouchardeau|first1=Cecile|last2=Nolan|first2=Siobhan|last3=Reynolds|first3=Ann|title=World's Heaviest Man Gets Second Chance at Life and Love|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=6119059&singlePage=true|access-date=27 May 2014|newspaper=ABC News|date=1 July 2008|archive-date=27 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527215647/http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=6119059&singlePage=true|url-status=live}} He married his first wife in 1987 and the couple immigrated to the United States for employment opportunities. They settled in Dallas, Texas, where he was employed as a technician fixing typewriters, electronic calculators, and computers. The nature of his job required Uribe to spend his day sitting at a desk. Reflecting on those years, Uribe commented: "Life in the United States is like that, you just go from your desk to your car. I used to drive my car to and from work, so I didn't get any exercise".
His sedentary lifestyle may have contributed to the onset of his morbid obesity because it appears to be, according to a scientific study published in Clinical Cardiology, one of the major risk factors including a poor diet. After five years living in a new country, his obesity sharply increased and took a toll on his emotional stability: "[My wife] asked me for a divorce... I was very depressed... Everything ended on account of my obesity, because I spent a lot of money trying to see doctors, going on diets, and I just gained more weight."
Diet and weight loss
Manuel Uribe returned to Mexico and eventually made an emotional plea for help on national television. The government appointed a group of doctors and certified nutritionists to help him lose weight, but while he turned down offers for gastric bypass surgery in Italy and Spain, he caught the attention of Barry Sears, the creator of the Zone diet. Sears prescribed him a diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates{{cite news|last=Gammell|first=Caroline|title=World's fattest man Manuel Uribe goes on record breaking diet|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1954679/Worlds-fattest-man-Manuel-Uribe-goes-on-record-breaking-diet.html|access-date=26 May 2014|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=14 May 2008|archive-date=3 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081103073852/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1954679/Worlds-fattest-man-Manuel-Uribe-goes-on-record-breaking-diet.html|url-status=live}} that consisted of five meals in small portions that included egg-white omelets, salads, chicken, fish, fruits and spring greens.{{cite news|last=Walsh|first=Mark|title=700-pound Mexican man hopes to stand for wedding|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2008-06-11-1250916045_x.htm|access-date=28 May 2014|newspaper=USA Today|date=11 June 2008|agency=Associated Press|archive-date=29 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529052348/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2008-06-11-1250916045_x.htm|url-status=live}} His dramatic reduction in weight – reportedly {{convert|230|kg|lb|abbr=on}} by February 2008 – prompted him to set his sights on a second Guinness World Record: "The World's Greatest Loser of Weight", which presumably was never certified.
Uribe tried to capitalize on his new-found fame by announcing plans to launch the Manuel Uribe Foundation, an institution aiming to educate Mexican people about nutrition and obesity, but the organization was never legally constituted.{{cite news|title=Manuel Uribe lucha por levantarse y servir|url=http://www.publimetro.com.mx/vida/manuel-uribe-lucha-por-levantarse-y-servir/mmba!nFaYbRGITvNuc/|access-date=28 May 2014|newspaper=Publimetro|date=1 February 2013|language=es|quote=Tenemos una fundación Manuel Uribe A. C. He batallado mucho con el Gobierno porque no me la ha autorizado, desde 2006, pero por cuestiones legales y papeleo que falta.|archive-date=29 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529052055/http://www.publimetro.com.mx/vida/manuel-uribe-lucha-por-levantarse-y-servir/mmba!nFaYbRGITvNuc/|url-status=live}} On 3 October 2008, he gave diet advice to José Luis Garza, a critically obese and bedridden fellow Mexican who weighed {{convert|449|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. Garza, a former chef at a bowling alley who was unable to get out of his bed for four months, commented: "Manuel inspires me with courage and the will to live. I understand that this is a matter of life and death and that I have to follow the instructions that are given to me." Uribe's girlfriend Claudia Solís visited Garza's home with kiwifruit, grapefruit, pears, and protein supplements, and Uribe promised to help Garza get a wheel-equipped iron bed; however, Garza died five days later on 8 October 2008.Mark Walsh {{cite web|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jKhzniC1FpelvLRBq1wNsFKhiyIAD93K3J2G0 |title=World's heaviest man helps another obese man diet |access-date=2008-10-28 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030123354/http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jKhzniC1FpelvLRBq1wNsFKhiyIAD93K3J2G0 |archive-date=30 October 2008 }}. Associated Press. 4 October 2008{{cite news | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5020806.ece | work=TimesOnline UK | title=World's fattest man Manuel Uribe weds girlfriend | location=London | first=Sophie | last=Tedmanson | date=27 October 2008 | access-date=12 May 2010 | archive-date=17 May 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517065322/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5020806.ece | url-status=dead }}
Second wedding
On 26 October 2008, after four years together, Uribe – who weighed in at {{convert|318|kg|lb|abbr=on}} after shedding {{convert|269|kg|lb|abbr=on}} – married his second wife Claudia from his bed. He said: "I am proof you can find love in any circumstances. It's all a question of faith. I have a wife and will form a new family and live a happy life."[https://web.archive.org/web/20130210002549/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27399979 World's heaviest man ties the knot]. NBC News (27 October 2008). He was transported to the civil wedding on his specially-reinforced four-poster bed, draped with cream and gold and adorned in bright sunflowers, on the back of a truck. Donning a white silk shirt with a sheet around his legs, he waited to greet Claudia as she walked down a flight of stairs wearing a strapless ivory dress and a tiara in front of over 400 guests.
Despite the publicity, his second marriage was short-lived and ended, according to Uribe's mother, some three-and-a-half years before his death in 2014.{{cite news|title=Muere Manuel Uribe, quien fuera el hombre más obeso del mundo|url=http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2014/05/26/961439|access-date=26 May 2014|newspaper=Excélsior|date=26 May 2014|language=es|archive-date=12 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212190522/http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2014/05/26/961439|url-status=live}}
Death
Uribe was hospitalized on 2 May 2014 after suffering several cardiac arrhythmias and liver failure. He died on 26 May 2014 at age 48 from liver failure. After his death, his body was cremated and his ashes were buried at an undisclosed place in Monterrey.
See also
References
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