years Ricky Naputi, who at his heaviest, weighed
more than 400 KG/900 pounds, battled with food
addiction, and lost.
His wife Cheryl described looking after him as 'just
like taking care of an overgrown baby', as he fell in
and out of a deep depression over his obesity.
Ricky Naputi was confined to his bed, and Cheryl
did everything for him from cooking his food to
cleaning every inch of his huge body, and helping
him go to the toilet. At the time of his death hadn't
walked on his own for more than 7 years.
Ricky could barely speak without becoming short of
breath, let alone stand up or move from the bed he
was confined to. He often needed the assistance of
an oxygen machine.
But Cheryl and Ricky had dreams to start a family
and have children, despite never having
consummated their marriage due to Ricky's extreme
obesity.
The couple lived on the island of Guam, and Cheryl
was Ricky's primary caretaker. She said that when
they married she knew that she very well may outlive
him, if he didn't get his health in check.
'When Ricky and I met he was already a big
man. So when he asked me to marry him I knew
what I was getting myself into."
After their marriage, the couple embarked on a
difficult and challenging journey to try and get Ricky
to lose weight - each doctor giving him the same
ultimatum - lose weight, or your life.
In desperation, he reached out to a woman from
Houston, Texas, named Angie Flores who lost more
than 80 kilograms after undergoing gastric surgery
and is now an advocate for others looking to change
their lives in the same way.
Ricky desperately needed surgery which reduces the
size of the stomach by 80 percent, but could not
undergo it until he lost at least 40 kilograms on his
own first.
From there the morbidly obese man's life over the
next few years took a cyclical and repetitive nature
which eventually lead to the breakdown of his
marriage, and later, his death.
First Dr Duc Vuong, originally a refugee from
Vietnam who trained in America as a obesity
specialist, took the trip to Guam with Angie to assess
the state of Ricky and the possibility of Ricky
undergoing surgery.
Dr Vuong told Ricky he must shift some weight on
his own before he can even consider any procedure,
and also laid some of the responsibility on Cheryl as
she is the one who cooks for him.
She admitted she was not strong enough to resist his
begging for food - and lots of it - and said despite
being immobile her husband was in control.
'When it comes to food and Ricky wants
something he'll keep going on and on and on
and on until I finally give it to him. It's very hard
because I am his wife - can I control his eating
habits, no I can't.'
When Dr Vuong reached out to a clinic on the
Island, the head of the facility Dr John Steel gave
Ricky the same ultimatum. If he couldn't lose any
weight on his own then he could not be helped, it
was simply too dangerous to try and perform surgery.
The possibility of moving Ricky to Houston for an
operation slowly became more and more impossible
as he failed to lose weight, and the next step was to
reach out to a doctor in Australia.
World leading obesity surgeon George Hopkins, from
Brisbane Australia, also made the trip to Guam to
discuss the possibility of performing the surgery
closer to home for Ricky - but again gave the man the
same conditions.
When he delivered it Ricky and Cheryl broke down,
and said they couldn't handle hearing that Ricky had
to lose weight on his own any more as they believed
they had done all they could. Ricky said through
tears earlier in the documentary;
'It's hard being stuck here, I can't go nowhere
I'm so depressed. I'm stuck in this bed every
single day. Every single day.'
In the end, Cheryl and Ricky's marriage broke down
and Ricky took 'some pills' and stopped breathing.
An hour and a half of CPR by paramedics failed to
revive him and he died aged 39.
So sad.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in comments are
those of the comment writers alone and does not
reflect or represent the views of Somayina.
No comments:
Post a Comment