Jon Brower Minnoch

With his underlying condition of massive generalized edema being incurable, the medical professionals stopped treating Minnoch and he died 23 months later in September 1983, at the age of 41. At the time of death, Minnoch weighed about 800 lbs (or 363 kg) and had a Body Mass Index of 105.3.

Minnoch weighed about 294 lb (133 kilograms) when he was 12. By the age of 22, he weighed 392 lbs or 178 kilograms. His weight continued rising at a constant rate until he was hospitalized at the age of 36 due to cardiac and respiratory failure. When Minnoch was in hospital, it was revealed that he was suffering from massive generalized edema. This is a condition in which the human body starts accumulating excess extracellular fluid.

Minnoch’s endocrinologist Dr. Robert Schwartz disclosed that over 900 lbs (or 408 kg) of the former’s body mass was retained fluid. Transporting Minnoch to the hospital was quite difficult. It required over a dozen firemen as well as rescue personnel to carry him on a specially modified stretcher so as to transport him to the University of Washington Medical Center (located in Seattle).

At the Medical Center, Minnoch rested on two beds pushed together. Moreover, it took about 13 people to just roll him over for linen changes. After major water loss during a sixteen-month stint in the hospital and following a strict diet of 1,200 calories, his weight came down to 476 lbs (216 kg). However, Minnoch was hospitalized again after he gained 200 lbs (or 91 kg) in just a week.