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​Morbidly Obese 700lb Woman Makes Desperate Plea For Help

​Morbidly Obese 700lb Woman Makes Desperate Plea For Help

Lisa Fleming, 49, said she started life as a 'regular child', but early traumas led to her having a problematic relationship with food.

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

A morbidly obese 704lb woman has revealed her lifelong battle with her weight started during her traumatic childhood and is making a desperate plea for help.

Lisa Fleming, 49, said she started life as a 'regular child', but admitted that, while her dad spoiled her, her mum struggled to put her affection into words and instead cooked food for her as a way of expressing her love.

Appearing on an episode of TLC's reality series My 600lb Life, Fleming said that food was also used as a punishment, which led to a problematic relationship with eating.

"I remember this one time, I asked for some cake and she wouldn't give it to me," she explained.

"I didn't understand so I just stuck my finger in and rubbed all the icing off the cake.

TLC

"My mama caught me and said 'I know ain't nobody done this but you', and she sat me down and said I had to eat the whole cake. But after an hour my dad came and threw it in the trash can. He always saved me."

Lisa explained that her parents divorced when she was nine, which only added to her childhood trauma. She explained that the only thing that would make her feel better at the time was eating.

"Ice cream was my friend at night. I had my own bowl, I had my own spoon and I kept it hid in my room until my mom found it one day, but that didn't even stop me."

By the age of 11, Lisa weighed 120lbs.

Almost four decades later, she now weighs in at a worrying 704lbs, and says that things have become so bad that she found herself not only bed-bound, but has also discovered maggots growing in the folds of her skin.

TLC

However, this proved to be the turning point for Lisa, who used it as the graphic prompt to seek weight loss surgery.

For the first time in years, she was able to leave her bed - the same one her mother died in - to make the six-hour trip to meet with a doctor in Houston to ask for his help.

"I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I'm not looking forward to having the paramedics move me out of this bed," Lisa said on the programme.

Getting Lisa out of her home didn't prove easy, and seven paramedics were needed to remove her from the bed, down a ramp and onto the ambulance.

"The paramedics have to reinforce the ramp they'll use to get me out of the house," Lisa added.

"I can't believe it's come to this.

"But at least I'm doing something about it before it gets to be too late."

Featured Image Credit: TLC

Topics: Weight Loss, Weight, Interesting, US News