The TLC reality show My 600-lb Life has seen many inspiring and heartwarming transformations over the years, but not every story has been a success. Dr. Younan Nowzaradan always informs the patients about all of the risks up front, and some have sadly died while attempting to shed the pounds, while others have not been able to go through the program and have stepped away. From the man who managed to lose 350 pounds but still struggled with addiction to the brothers who had a difficult time on the show, here are some stories from My 600-lb Life that ended in tragedy.
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00:00There are plenty of reality shows that document weight loss, but My 600-lb Life stands out
00:06as it focuses on the lives of real people.
00:08Unfortunately, that means viewers get an intimate glimpse into the sometimes tragic outcomes
00:13along with the successes.
00:15Here are the My 600-lb Life stories that didn't end well.
00:20Dr. Now may seem like an unlikely reality TV star, however, he's the only person who
00:24appears in every episode of My 600-lb Life, and his skills in the operating room are the
00:29reason why.
00:30The veteran surgeon isn't known for his small talk, but he clearly lets his patients know
00:34what they're facing without diminishing their humanity.
00:38Oftentimes, Dr. Now offers his patients a reality check on the conditions related to
00:42obesity.
00:43According to a journal published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, complications
00:48can include high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, stroke, heart disease, depression,
00:54cancer, arthritis, and gout.
00:56Now that you had the surgery, the physical drive to eat is gone, so you have to deal
01:02with what is driving you to eat."
01:05Many patients on the show successfully lose weight after therapy, diet modifications,
01:09increased exercise, and weight loss surgery.
01:12But sadly, some of the show's stars can't make the lifestyle changes, or pass away due
01:16to the stress on their bodies.
01:19Robert's situation was dire from the outset.
01:22It didn't take long for Dr. Now to discover that Robert not only weighed nearly 850 pounds,
01:27but that he also had an addiction to painkillers.
01:30I hate that this is our life, and that this is Rob's life.
01:34You could call the wings, love wings.
01:36But nothing stops him from eating.
01:39After a rocky start, Robert was able to finally get some control over his compulsive overeating.
01:44The New Jersey resident had a lot of love on his side, including that of his mother
01:48and his fiancée, Catherine.
01:50With that support and a whole lot of work, Robert managed to lose a significant amount
01:54of weight under Dr. Now's care, almost 350 pounds, including the surgical removal of
01:59a lymphedema mass.
02:01Unfortunately, the surgery left Robert depressed and longing for painkillers again.
02:06He even tore his own stitches hoping to get more of them.
02:09Tragically, Robert passed away from a heart attack in November 2017 at 41, while the show
02:14was still filming.
02:15Dr. Now was not shy about expressing his frustration at the medical system for its complicity in
02:21Robert's addiction, which ultimately killed him.
02:24He also hailed him for being a fighter.
02:26He knew that he was running against the clock and his body gave up, but he never did give
02:32up.
02:33Few of the stars of My 600-lb Life are more notorious than the Asante brothers, Steven
02:38in particular.
02:39And Steven Asante suffers from severe psychological issues, so he's going to be a unique case."
02:47The pair may be bound by blood, but Steven's antics ensured that he and Justin were not
02:52brotherly to one another.
02:54For one, he pretended to be following Dr. Now's strict diet during the show, but was
02:58secretly binge eating.
03:00Additionally, he would manipulate and bully anyone, including his father, to get what
03:04he wanted.
03:05He also continued abusing painkillers, including stealing Justin's while he was healing from
03:10his gastric bypass.
03:11It's a big bully that just tortured me all day."
03:14Because of Steven's continued and repeated abusive behavior toward his brother, which
03:18started in childhood according to Justin's Reddit AMA, Justin ended up quitting Dr. Now's
03:23program in spite of both his father's and the doctor's best efforts.
03:27He also accused the show of blackmailing him in a now-deleted Reddit post.
03:31As of mid-2019, he lives in Rhode Island.
03:34It appears that Steven is out of the program, too, and is now living in Iowa with his new
03:39wife, according to Starcasm.
03:41Sean Milliken seemed like he was moving in the right direction after a rocky start on
03:45his weight loss journey.
03:47After initially weighing in at nearly 900 pounds, Sean was finally able to turn things
03:51around and get weight loss surgery.
03:53That, in turn, helped him drop hundreds of pounds and regain his ability to walk.
03:58According to his follow-up on My 600-lb Life, where are they now?
04:01I know I can hit all these goals in the next year, and that's what I'm determined to do."
04:08But in 2018, tragedy struck when Sean's mother passed away, according to TLC.
04:13Understandably, he was devastated, as he and his mother were extremely close.
04:18Subsequently, he had to move out of his Houston apartment.
04:21In yet another sorrowful turn of events, Sean passed away in the hospital due to complications
04:26from an infection in February 2019.
04:28TMZ reported that his father wrote on Facebook,
04:31"...he was having problems with his breathing.
04:33They were able to resuscitate him, and a short time later, his heart stopped."
04:37Sean was just 29 years old.
04:41Having the courage to work with Dr. Now and appear on My 600-lb Life isn't easy, and unfortunately
04:46for some patients, they're just not ready to conquer their addiction to food and completely
04:50overhaul their lifestyle.
04:52Such is the case with Penny, who appeared in Season 2.
04:55"...I let food be the way that I found solace."
05:00She was initially able to lose 40 pounds on a controlled diet, so Dr. Now approved her
05:04for weight loss surgery.
05:06But after Penny's gastric bypass, she gained 5 pounds, when she should have been losing
05:10weight.
05:11It appeared she was secretly having food brought to her.
05:14Penny eventually left Houston and moved back home to Maryland, quitting the program altogether
05:18against Dr. Now's professional advice.
05:21In her follow-up episode, he stated plainly that her addiction will kill her.
05:25"...Either people around her stop enabling her, or her addiction eventually is gonna
05:33kill her."
05:34Penny's Facebook account has been mostly dormant, which only fuels speculation that her diet
05:38is not going well, and seems to confirm what Dr. Now called her, quote,
05:42"...delusional thinking."
05:44Dr. Now is known for giving patients the hope they need to turn their lives around, and
05:49the tools to help them on their journey.
05:51That's what Kelly Mason was looking for when she made the trip to Houston to meet with
05:54the famous surgeon.
05:55"...Every day is a bad day, and every step is torture."
06:01When she arrived, viewers learned that she had a host of health issues, including high
06:06blood pressure, a blood clot in her leg, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, thyroid issues, reflex,
06:12and heart problems.
06:13It was clear that she needed help.
06:15"...Some days it just feels like, um, it would just be easier if I wasn't here.
06:21People could just move on."
06:22Things started looking up for Kelly when Dr. Now admitted her to the hospital, where
06:26she was able to lose over 200 pounds.
06:28She then had weight loss surgery and dropped another 100 pounds.
06:32Upon discharge, she was hopeful and committed to sticking to her diet and exercise regimen,
06:37but Kelly's heart had already suffered too much stress, despite her best efforts.
06:42She passed away in her sleep of a heart attack in February 2019, according to Inquisitor.
06:47Dr. Now pointed out, however, that she hadn't returned to her old habits.
06:51She went out fighting
06:53Like many of the stars who appear on My 600-lb Life, James was initially unable to leave
06:57his bed due to being almost 800 pounds, and had a painful skin infection.
07:02"...But even though I still open my eyes each day, I'm not living life because I'm just
07:08trapped in this bed all day."
07:10Additionally, James' family had made some huge sacrifices for him, including his daughter
07:14dropping out of school to care for him, and his father refinancing his home to get him
07:19to Houston via ambulance to see Dr. Now.
07:22But when James arrived in Houston, he hadn't lost the weight Dr. Now required him to.
07:26He dropped a bit while supervised, but soon thereafter, viewers learned that James had
07:31instead gained enough to weigh in at 840 pounds.
07:34Eventually, Dr. Now told him to leave if he wasn't willing to stick to the program.
07:38My dad's gotten worse, and I'm worried that he's close to losing it all, and he basically
07:46already has."
07:47When TLC caught up with James a little later, things hadn't improved.
07:51In fact, Dr. Now called Adult Protective Services on James' girlfriend when he discovered James
07:56was suffering organ failure, and she was still bringing him food while in the hospital.
08:01Dr. Now dismissed him once again, citing his inability to make changes.
08:06As viewers learned on her episode, Sinead endured an extraordinarily difficult childhood.
08:11In order to cope with the pain, she turned to food at an early age, and slowly grew to
08:15be 780 pounds.
08:17Food made me feel better.
08:18It made me so happy."
08:20Hopeful that she could turn her life around, Sinead turned to Dr. Now for help.
08:24But she was never approved for weight loss surgery because she refused to follow the
08:27diet and exercise plan Dr. Now gave her.
08:30She and her husband were even caught ordering pizza and burgers to her hospital room.
08:34You both need to stop lying.
08:37You came here to have weight loss surgery, you haven't lost any weight in four months.
08:41Why?"
08:42Since the show, Sinead has posted a handful of videos on her YouTube channel, some of
08:46them from hospitals as she struggles with her health.
08:49And while she claims to have lost weight on her Facebook page, any progress appears difficult
08:54to discern.
08:56As one of the first stars of Season 1, Henry Foots endeared himself to viewers with his
09:00kind disposition and sincere desire to attend his high school reunion looking his best.
09:05My total fear is death.
09:09I'm gonna die.
09:10I know I will die if I don't have the surgery."
09:14Thanks to his hard work, Henry went from 750 pounds all the way down to 275 pounds and
09:20was poised to put his past behind him.
09:23But in a heartbreaking twist, Henry passed away in 2013, several months after having
09:27a medical episode while driving a bus, according to Starcasm.
09:31The cause of death remains unknown.
09:34Many of the stories on My 600-lb Life have especially tragic beginnings which trigger
09:39overeating to cope with difficult feelings.
09:42Season 7's Mercedes was no different.
09:45Mercedes weighed in at 773 pounds, was dependent on her young children for care, and was struggling
09:50with severe lymphedema.
09:52She clearly wanted to be able to live a normal life.
09:55I know it's hard for her because she wanted to do it for us and us not do it for her.
10:00But Mercedes wasn't able to qualify for weight loss surgery.
10:04She had only lost 80 pounds and was full of excuses as to why.
10:08According to her Facebook profile, she's now living in Cincinnati, which is a long
10:12way from Houston, so she's likely off Dr. Now's program.
10:16One of the most shocking things ever on My 600-lb Life was when Lisa Fleming's daughter
10:21discovered maggots in the folds of her mom's skin.
10:24It seemed like that would be the wake-up call that got Lisa motivated to stick to the diet
10:28that Dr. Now had prescribed her, especially since she weighed over 700 pounds.
10:33That was also on top of needing a team of paramedics to get her out of her house.
10:37Although Lisa did lose some weight under supervision, she gained it again when she
10:41was back home.
10:42Viewers watched as Lisa's manipulative tactics became apparent, arguably some of the worst
10:47in the show's history.
10:48By the end of her episode, Dr. Now was clearly frustrated with Lisa's unwillingness to change,
10:53and dismissed her from his program.
10:55When all you do is give in to what's easy, you sometimes forget it's the more difficult
11:02challenges that make you stronger.
11:04Not even a year after Lisa appeared on My 600-lb Life, she passed away at her home at
11:09age 50, according to Page Six.
11:12Jean's life had not been an easy one, and it only seemed to go even further downhill
11:16during her episode of My 600-lb Life.
11:19My life can't get any worse, but my body and my health are getting worse by the day.
11:25She first appeared in a messy home along with her mother and a father who struggled with
11:29severe mental illness.
11:31By the time Jean and her mother Barbara arrived in Houston, things took a turn for the worse
11:35when Barbara had to be hospitalized due to illness.
11:38Then, Jean's father back home was discovered dead in his bed.
11:41Unfortunately, circumstances proved to be overwhelming for Jean, who decided she wasn't
11:46ready to follow Dr. Now's program.
11:48Instead of staying in Houston, she returned home.
11:51We certainly hope she'll get the help she needs in the future.
11:54James L.B. Bonner quickly became a Season 6 fan favorite.
11:58There's days where I feel so worthless, I think.
12:02I'd be better off in the ground.
12:03After struggling with food and alcohol addiction, and losing his foot after an ATV crash, James'
12:09weight ballooned to 650 pounds.
12:11Unable to care for himself, he decided to seek help from Dr. Now, determined to make
12:16a change.
12:17It was clear that James was a success story.
12:20He went from 650 pounds to less than half of that, and was sticking to his diet and
12:24exercise regimen.
12:26Additionally, he had become a burgeoning social media star, with more than 8,000 Facebook
12:30followers, according to Starcasm.
12:33He was doing so well and losing so much weight that TLC halted his photo and video sharing,
12:38hoping to avoid any spoilers.
12:40But sadly, no follow-up episode would ever air.
12:43Tragically, James took his own life in 2018, at age 30, according to People magazine.
12:49I thought my brother was great.
12:51I had no worries.
12:52So I want to reach out to people out there that love alone is not going to save them.
12:58If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call or chat online with
13:03the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK or 8255.