World's Fattest Man May Now Be 812-pound Brit

Some titles are coveted. Others are thrust upon.

The dubious distinction of being the world's fattest man has changed hands and now belongs to Keith Martin, who checks in at 812 pounds.

The 42-year-old London resident has been bedridden for over 10 years, unable to work. His health is so delicate, he requires up to 18 people to look after him, including nurses, dieticians, an ambulance staff, and his sisters. He is checked on by seven caregivers a day, seven days a week, and two nurses every other day, who attend to his bedsores.

All that care adds up to a lot of expense. According to several U.K. publications, Martin costs British taxpayers an estimated 50,000 pounds a year -- the equivalent of about $78,600 -- which he defended to the Daily Mail on Tuesday, saying "It's either that or I would end up dead. Until people have lived like it, they can't judge."

He compared his need for assistance to that of smokers or rock climbers who get stuck.

The story has caused outrage, as the Daily Mail received thousands of comments to its article, most criticizing not only Martin's physical state but the taxpayer assistance he receives, mostly from the British National Health Service, which accounts for the bulk of his expenses.

Martin, who is 5-foot-9 with a 6-foot waist, told the Daily Mail he hopes to have gastric-band surgery but must lose half his weight before doctors will consider it.

Martin told the British press that he is on a restricted diet now, though the Daily Mail reports he eats the following on a typical day: eight hot dogs and four slices of bread for breakfast; chocolate bars, cakes, and biscuits for lunch; and 16 sausages with a family-size bag of chips for dinner.
Martin's weight issues began after his mother died when he was 16 and he began binging.

"I blame myself, I don't blame anyone else," Martin told the Daily Mail. "It was my fault, I am the one who ate the food. No one held a gun to my head and made me. I hate what I have done to myself."

Though Martin is believed to be the current word's fattest man, Manuel Uribe of Mexico holds the Guinness World Records' official title. Uribe weighed 1,235 pounds in 2006 before dieting, and dropping a reported 500 pounds.