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MEXICO CITY (AFP): A Mexican who was once the heaviest man in the world has defeated the coronavirus, helped, he believes, by several years of diet, exercise and stomach reduction surgery that saw him lose hundreds of kilos.
Juan Pedro Franco used to weigh 595 kilos (1,310 pounds), more than the average male polar bear and enough to be certified by Guinness World Records in 2017.
The 36-year-old now weighs about 200 pounds, but his history of diabetes, high blood pressure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease made his battle against the virus particularly grueling.
“It is a very aggressive disease. He had a headache, body aches, shortness of breath, fever. He was a very high-risk person,” Franco told AFP from his home in the central state of Aguascalientes.
Mexico, which has the fourth highest number of deaths from Covid-19 in the world, has the highest obesity rate on the planet among children and the second highest among adults.
A quarter of the more than 74,000 Mexicans who have died after contracting the virus were overweight.
Many of the dead suffered from at least one underlying condition, such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity, often associated with poor diet and lack of exercise.
“Patients who are diabetic, have hypertension and heart disease are more susceptible to serious complications” from the virus, said José Antonio Castañeda, the doctor who led the team that treated Franco’s obesity.
“Their chances of getting ahead are very slim,” he added.
His patient, who was once too heavy to get out of bed, was an exception.
Franco, who lost his 66-year-old mother to Covid-19, believes his weight loss treatment, including three operations, helped him survive because his diabetes and hypertension are now under control. – AFP
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