All the morbidly obese folk on "My 600-lb Life" are given a death sentence by the show's bariatric surgeon Dr. Younan Nowzaradan. Each of the 600-pounds or over patients are told to either lose weight or die young. So far only one has passed away--Henry Foots, from Season 1. Did Foots die of obesity-related issues, gastric bypass, skin removal surgery or even weight lossitself? Here's what happened to Henry and what can be learned from his saga.
Henry's story
Henry Foots was known and loved as one of the gentlest, humblest and perhaps hardest-working of all the "My 600-lb Life" patients.
The classic elements were there in his sad tale--living at home with an enabler mother who fed his food addiction and obesity.The Houston, Texas 47-year-old joined the first season cast at 750 pounds and went on to shed a mind-boggling two-thirds of himself. He did the work necessary to lose enough for gastric bypass surgery, lost nearly 500 pounds and had skin removal surgery (a reward patients get who have lost hundreds of pounds). That cut away another 50 pounds. Henry was definitely one of Dr. Now's star pupils.
Sad conclusion
In 2012, TLC aired a special "My 600-lb Life:Where are they now?" episode and Henry revealed that weight loss hadn't been exactly what he expected. First of all, he died on the operating table having skin removal surgery.
Henry's heart stopped and he recalls seeing the white light, tunnel and associated visions of death. But God wasn't ready for him yet, said the faithful Henry. He was revived, got well, fell in love and was planning to be married. Yet a little over a year later, Henry was dead.
Henry's legacy
The official word from Dr. Now's assistant Melissa Morris (another success story from the TLC Reality TV show) was that Mr.
Foots didn't die from any of the procedures. But it prompted concerns about controversial gastric bypass and especially skin removal surgery. The show opens with stats that only 5% of bariatricsurgeries on morbidly obese people are successful. But that's because extreme weight endangers them to any kind of surgery, period. That's why they have to, ironically, lose weight before they can have weight loss surgery. Henry's legacy is not in his death, but in his courageous life which has been an example for so many others.
