The health journeys showcased on My 600-lb Life often feature many twists and turns, and unfortunately not every story has a happy ending. These are the My 600-lb Life stars who have sadly passed on.
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00:00The health journeys showcased on My 600-lb Life often feature many twists and turns,
00:05and unfortunately, not every story has a happy ending. These are the My 600-lb Life stars
00:11who have sadly passed on.
00:13Texas-born Henry Foots was one of the first individuals showcased during the debut season
00:18of My 600-lb Life. His lifelong food addiction had left him with a weight of more than 700
00:23pounds by the age of 47, which prompted him to seek out Dr. Now's program. After adopting
00:28the dietary requirements and undergoing gastric bypass surgery, Foots dropped 340 pounds.
00:35Foots remained even more determined to bring himself back to health after his heart stopped
00:39during his second skin removal surgery. Revived by doctors, he pressed on and brought his
00:44weight down to 275 pounds. Now able to return to his previous life, Foots began driving
00:50a shuttle bus but suffered what was described as a medical episode in 2012 that resulted
00:55in his vehicle striking and killing a pedestrian.
00:58One year later, Foots died of unspecified causes on May 16th, 2013, making him the first
01:04of the participants on My 600-lb Life who passed away over the course of the series' run.
01:09Introduced in Season 4, Sean Milliken topped 1,000 pounds at his highest as a result of
01:15childhood abuse and a high school injury. Complicating matters further was his codependent
01:20relationship with his mother, Renee, who provided him with an abundance of food in the hopes
01:24of healing his emotional wounds.
01:26I'm a mom, and when your kids say, I'm a hungry mom, you want to feed a kid.
01:32The dynamic between Sean and Renee proved to be the biggest hurdle for Dr. Now to overcome
01:37in his attempts to aid the young man. Sean actually gained weight after undertaking the
01:41doctor's 800-calorie-a-day meal plan, which resulted in his hospitalization. However,
01:47the stay proved beneficial, with Sean losing over 250 pounds. But upon returning home to
01:52Renee, he regained nearly 50 pounds. A cycle of weight loss and gain followed. Sean lost
01:58a staggering 455 pounds after undergoing bariatric sleeve surgery, but gained weight under Renee's
02:05care. Dr. Now suspected a situation that resembled Munchausen by proxy, a mental health condition
02:10described by the Cleveland Clinic as when a caregiver conflates or lies about a loved
02:14one's illness. Dr. Now readmitted him to the hospital, starting the revolving door of loss
02:19and gain all over again.
02:21Renee's death in 2017, combined with the loss of Sean's home in Hurricane Harvey, only exacerbated
02:27his health problems. His weight ballooned from 493 pounds to 688 pounds, and then down
02:33to 489, as he transitioned time and again from hospital to home. After returning from
02:39a hospital stay, Sean died of complications from an infection, which led to cardiac arrest,
02:44on February 17, 2019. He was only 29 years old.
02:50James King was 791 pounds when he appeared on Season 5 of My 600-lb Life. King's weight
02:56was the result of overeating brought on by childhood abandonment and the unthinkable
03:00double tragedy of his mother's death and the loss of his family home on the same day.
03:05I was just so depressed, tore up, that, you know, I couldn't even go to school. It seemed
03:12like all I wanted to do was eat.
03:14His weight left him reliant on his wife Lisa and children to care for his basic functions.
03:19Despite the urging of his father, King signed up to appear on the show in 2017. His tenure
03:24on the series was marked by turmoil. King was reluctant to follow Dr. Now's diet and
03:29exercise plan, and like Milliken, actually gained weight rather than losing it. After
03:33King topped the scale at 840 pounds, Dr. Now confronted him and his wife about his eating
03:38habits, which led to his dismissal from the program.
03:42King did manage to lose 340 pounds by 2020, but a series of health complications including
03:47liver and kidney failure preceded his death at the age of 49 on April 3, 2020.
03:54While Henry Futz was the first My 600-lb Life participant to die during the series' run,
03:59New Jersey native Robert Bushell was the first to tragically lose his life during the filming
04:04of his episode. Bushell weighed 842 pounds when he appeared on Season 6, the result of
04:09lifelong overeating motivated in part by assault at the hands of a neighbor and the death of
04:14his brother at the age of 19.
04:16Bushell lost more than 100 pounds during his first month in Dr. Now's program, and lost
04:21nearly another 100 pounds soon after. These changes allowed him to walk on his own for
04:25the first time in quite a while, and surgery to remove lymphedema masses, tissue swollen
04:30by the body's inability to drain fluid through its lymphatic system, allowed him to bring
04:34his weight down to 502 pounds.
04:37However, the surgery also left Bushell addicted to pain medication, which upended further
04:42progress on his recovery. On November 15, 2017, the 41-year-old suffered a heart attack
04:47in his sleep and died after being rushed to a nearby hospital.
04:52The death of a beloved aunt spurred South Carolina native James L.B. Bonner to develop
04:57an overeating problem as a child, which ultimately brought him to My 600-lb Life in Season 6.
05:03At the time of his appearance, Bonner was dealing with an addiction to both food and
05:07loss of a foot in a vehicular accident, and a body weight that topped 600 pounds, leaving
05:12him unable to care for himself.
05:14After committing to Dr. Now's program, Bonner dropped 316 pounds, and after undergoing weight
05:20loss surgery, he wrapped his tenure on the show weighing 326 pounds. Bonner continued
05:25to maintain what appeared to be a healthy lifestyle and lost additional weight, which
05:29he detailed on his social media accounts.
05:31However, his outwardly positive attitude also disguised an inner turmoil that would
05:36lead him to a fateful decision.
05:38In a social media post in August 2018, Bonner shared an ominous message, writing,
05:43"...I've realized a few things over the last few days and it's time that I face my demons
05:47head on."
05:48A welfare check by police to his home in Lexington, South Carolina, found the 30-year-old Bonner
05:53dead from a self-inflicted wound.
05:56Following his death, Bonner's family filed suit against Megalomedia, the production company
06:00for My 600-lb Life, claiming that they did not provide mental health assistance for participants
06:05and alleging that they ignored warning signs of Bonner's mental state.
06:09There's days where I feel so worthless, I think. I'd be better off in the ground.
06:16Personal tragedy is a recurring theme in the backstories of many My 600-lb Life participants,
06:21but Season 6 subject Lisa Fleming's past was particularly harrowing. Food was a solace
06:26to Fleming as a child, especially after her parents' divorce, but it was also a punishment.
06:31She revealed that her mother made her eat an entire cake after taking a small taste.
06:36The murder of her brother further complicated her emotional issues, which led to a total
06:40weight of 704 pounds when she appeared on the series.
06:44Left immobile by her weight and trapped in the same bed in which her mother died from
06:48obesity-related problems, Fleming sought to break the cycle of self-abuse through Dr.
06:53Mao's program. However, she found it difficult to stay the course and lose the pounds needed
06:57for weight loss surgery. She was ultimately dropped from the program after six months.
07:02Shortly after the airing of her episode, Fleming died of a heart attack at the age of 50 in
07:06August 2018. Her daughter, Danielle, revealed that she had actually lost enough weight to
07:11undergo the surgery and dropped 200 pounds. However, as Danielle noted to TMZ,
07:16at the end, she was sick and her body was tired and her body just gave out.
07:21Season 7 introduced viewers to Kelly Mason, a North Carolina native whose 725-pound weight
07:27had brought on a host of health issues. Suffering from high blood pressure, heart problems,
07:32type 2 diabetes, blood clots, and arthritis, Mason had been hospitalized for congestive
07:37heart failure shortly before meeting with Dr. Mao. Before long, he told her in no uncertain
07:42terms that her life was in jeopardy if she did not begin a weight loss program.
07:46Mason proved to be one of the most dedicated participants in Dr. Mao's program. She lost
07:51more than 200 pounds before qualifying for weight loss surgery, and remained committed
07:55to maintaining her health after the procedure. After losing an additional 100 pounds, Mason
08:01weighed in at 383 pounds. Unfortunately, she was unable to beat back her myriad of health
08:07issues, and the 41-year-old died in her sleep after suffering a heart attack in the tenth
08:11month of her time in the program, on February 15, 2019.
08:16I wouldn't tell you that Kelly tried really hard and fought all the way to the end.
08:22Gina Crosley appeared in Season 8 to contend with weight gain that had rendered her, in
08:26her own words, immobile. Family issues, including abandonment and abuse by her father, spurred
08:32her to seek solace in food. As a result, she weighed more than 300 pounds by her teenage
08:37years and eventually surpassed 600 pounds, which sent her to Dr. Mao for help. Crosley
08:42reportedly lost 50 pounds while filming Season 8 in 2020, and noted on her YouTube channel
08:48that she had lost nearly 300 pounds by 2021. However, she also contended with numerous
08:53health problems, including hospitalization for an infection in 2021, and nerve issues
08:58in her hands and feet that resulted in her losing the ability to walk. Crosley was also
09:03one of nine former My 600-lb Life participants who sued the series, with her lawsuit alleging
09:09negligence to her mental health problems on the part of Megalomedia. The 30-year-old
09:13Crosley died at her home on August 1, 2021. No cause of death was given.
09:19As with many participants on My 600-lb Life, Renee Byron came to Dr. Mao in Season 6 after
09:24a lifetime of trauma led to weight gain that put her health in considerable jeopardy. Family
09:29problems including molestation by her stepfather, followed by teen pregnancy, an abusive marriage,
09:35and a debilitating car accident left the Georgia native at 631 pounds and dependent
09:40on her six children for her basic needs. A strict diet and therapy prescribed by Dr.
09:46Mao appeared to help her reduce enough weight to qualify for bariatric sleeve surgery, which
09:50led to Byron dropping a total of 250 pounds during the course of her appearances on the
09:55show. However, her health problems continued after her departure from the series, most
09:59notably through a diagnosis of the autoimmune disease Guillain-Barre syndrome. Fans of Byron,
10:04who kept up with her post-show progress via social media, saw fewer posts from her after
10:09the beginning of 2020. A year later, word came via social media and online obituaries
10:14that Byron had died at the age of 56 on May 14, 2021. No cause of death was given.
10:21Just 24 years old at the time of her appearance in Season 1, Ashley Randall was the youngest
10:26participant on the series up to that point. However, she shared a background similar to
10:30many of the other individuals showcased on the program, struggling with a mother whom
10:34she viewed as demeaning in her comments about her weight. Randall weighed 617 pounds when
10:40she contacted Dr. Mao, but her determination, as well as gastric bypass surgery, led to
10:45her achieving a weight of 265 by the end of her fifth year in his program. However, the
10:50death of her father in 2015, as well as her inability to achieve the weight needed for
10:55a skin removal surgery, upended her program, and at the time of her appearance on the Where
11:00Are They Now? special, Randall's weight had risen to 312 pounds. She returned to Now's
11:05program and with the support of her mother, with whom she had made up, she dropped back
11:09down to 272 pounds. Details regarding Randall's life after that final appearance were few,
11:15but an online obituary confirmed that after being hospitalized in her hometown of Killeen,
11:20Texas, she died on October 2, 2021. At the time of her death, Randall was only 40 years
11:26old.
11:27Season 7 introduced audiences to Destiny Lachey, the series' first transgender participant.
11:33Lachey struggled with both her weight, which had reached 699 pounds at the time of filming,
11:38and depression. She turned to food to combat her pain, but by the time she appeared on
11:42the series, she realized her habits had gone too far.
11:45The thing that's saving me every day is also what's destroying my life now, to the point
11:51where I can feel it killing me.
11:54Desperate to rise above her issues, Lachey eventually lost more than 500 pounds after
11:59her appearance on My 600-lb Life, qualifying for skin removal surgery. She also drew a
12:04number of followers to her social media accounts, where she regularly posted positive and affirming
12:09messages, as well as photographs of her physical transformation.
12:12Sadly, on February 8, 2022, her brother Wayne Compton posted news on his Facebook page that
12:18Lachey had died. Though no official cause of death was given for Lachey's passing, her
12:22brother wrote,
12:23"...I'm sorry you felt alone. I'm sorry you felt you had nobody else to turn to. I'm sorry
12:28you felt you had no other option."
12:31Angela Gutierrez was the subject of a Season 7 episode of My 600-lb Life in which the Ohio
12:36resident failed to make many inroads into losing weight. She began the episode at 608
12:42pounds, despite the fact that she had previously had weight loss surgery, and came to Dr. Now
12:46as a last resort.
12:48According to Gutierrez, she wanted to shed the pounds to be there for her family, while
12:52she needed care herself, the 44-year-old was also responsible for looking after her
12:56daughter, who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and her cousin's 11-year-old child.
13:01"...As hard as it is for me to sit at a kitchen table, I do it because I want Lachey to have
13:07a normalcy."
13:08However, she found the process difficult from the start, and only made it to Houston after
13:13reaching out to a former boyfriend who was able to transport her to Texas in his van
13:17on a journey that proved tough for Gutierrez.
13:20After struggling to adjust to living in Houston, Gutierrez quickly dropped out of the program
13:24and moved back to Ohio. She did have some video calls with Dr. Now, claiming she was
13:29still losing weight, but was clearly using oxygen and didn't look any healthier to Dr.
13:34Now's eyes.
13:35Outside of posts on her various social media accounts, Gutierrez largely stayed out of
13:39the limelight after her appearance on the show. However, she did state her support for
13:43a lawsuit against Megalomedia that was filed by several people who had been involved in
13:48the series. She died on March 21, 2023, at the age of 49, less than four years after
13:54she made her television debut.
13:57Affectionately known as Mr. Buttermilk Biscuits thanks to a viral video in which he performed
14:01a song about the snack, Larry Myers Jr. was the subject of a Season 10 episode of My 600-Pound
14:07Life in 2022. He was among the show's largest participants, weighing some 940 pounds. That
14:13left him living from his bed, as he was too heavy to support his own weight. Speaking
14:18on the show, Myers Jr. explained how the death of his mother and then later his nephew prompted
14:22a binge-eating spree that led to him putting on hundreds of pounds. He found mixed success
14:28on the show, but eventually managed to lose around 100 pounds. However, this was not enough
14:32for him to be approved for further weight loss surgery under Dr. Now, and his weight
14:36went up and down after his episode concluded.
14:39In the months following his television appearance, he set up his own YouTube channel and appeared
14:43on numerous podcasts and shows. Myers Jr.'s cousin announced his death online on June
14:4917, 2023, but gave few details about the cause. A different family member later confirmed
14:54that Myers Jr. had suffered a heart attack at his home shortly after learning about the
14:58death of a friend. A GoFundMe page set up to help pay for funeral costs provided the
15:03funds that allowed his father to travel to New York for the service.
15:07V&A Rodriguez appeared in My 600-lb Life during the seventh season. Unusually, she wasn't
15:12the sole participant during this episode and actually took part in the show with husband
15:16Alan. The pair, who weighed 594 and 648 pounds respectively, explained that they had bonded
15:23over their love of food.
15:24For the last six or seven years, all we've done is stay home and eat.
15:29This combined with V&A's body issues that started when her mother abused her during
15:33childhood led them to become dangerously overweight. Knowing that they could not continue
15:38getting larger without putting themselves at severe risk, V&A and Alan sought help from
15:42Dr. Now. Both engaged in the weight loss program wholeheartedly and lost hundreds of pounds
15:48between them. Alan was able to receive his planned surgery because of this, although
15:52V&A's procedure was abandoned when she suffered complications that almost killed her.
15:56While V&A managed to lose weight and get healthier, she sadly died on November 20, 2023. Alan's
16:02brother revealed that she passed away at the Cox Medical Center in Branson, Missouri.
16:07No cause of death was provided, but it was confirmed that V&A died suddenly and was not
16:11well at the time.
16:13When viewers were first introduced to Paul McNeill during Season 10, he was a severely
16:17obese man who weighed in excess of 750 pounds. That led to a variety of health issues, including
16:23lymphedema and an inability to carry out even basic tasks without becoming exhausted.
16:29Throughout his episode, it soon became clear that his mother had a part to play in his
16:32weight problems, enabling him by cooking whatever he wanted on command. Wanting to lose weight
16:37so he could enjoy life with his girlfriend, McNeill was committed to the program that
16:41Dr. Now developed for him. He lost more than 200 pounds after appearing on the show and
16:46seemed to be making strides toward becoming a healthier and fitter person. He could regularly
16:51be found posting on social media to give his fans updates on his life, including his personal
16:56relationships and his continuing success in losing weight.
16:59Unfortunately, McNeill died on September 21, 2023, at the age of 37, when he was involved
17:05in a car accident while on his way to work. Even more tragically, he was just two months
17:10away from marrying his longtime girlfriend when he passed away.
17:14Laura Ann Perez had one of the most dramatic physical transformations out of everyone to
17:18appear on the show. When she arrived during the third season in 2015, she weighed 594
17:23pounds. Understanding that this was incredibly unhealthy and also putting a huge amount of
17:28strain on her family life, Perez was determined to lose as much weight as possible, as she
17:33feared dying an early death if she didn't make any changes to her lifestyle.
17:37It emerged over several months that Perez had started comfort eating as a way of taking
17:41control following childhood sexual abuse, which she hid from her friends and family.
17:46That didn't stop her from dedicating herself to a program set by Dr. Now, which included
17:50a gastrectomy to remove a significant portion of her stomach. As a result, Perez was able
17:55to get down to 182 pounds, less than half of what she weighed when she started.
18:00Fans of the show will know that Perez had marital difficulties with her husband, Joey.
18:04The pair frequently argued, and Joey seemed to be against his wife getting healthier and
18:08becoming more independent. The couple seemingly split after she was no longer involved with
18:13My 600-lb Life, amid rumors suggesting that Perez had found a new romantic partner.
18:18After she was absent from social media for several months, it was revealed that Perez
18:22had died on November 17th, 2021, at the age of 48, although no cause of death was provided.