The photograph shows Mr Mason reclining on a
bed and, dangling to his right, a remote control for adjusting
the height and angle. On the same side is a hospital issue
over-bed table, upon which sits a fruit bowl with oranges
and bananas, a document holder that appears to contain medical
notes, and a tea tray.
He also has:
* Cleansing equipment, which is used by carers
to bathe him because he is too big for a shower
* A lightbox, which helps to combat Seasonal
Affective Disorder (SAD) caused by lack of sun
* A TV and Playstation, to entertain him while
he lays in bed
* An inflatable slide, to enable him to slip
out of his bed and into a wheelchair without the danger of
a fall
In the background is what seems to be a
fridge containing snacks and cold drinks and a tall steel
frame, to which a pulley system can be attached to lift him.
A black computer stands near a monitor with an internet camera
on top, suggesting he keeps in contact with the outside world
via the internet. There is a selection of computer games and
DVDs on the top shelf.
He relies on a team of seven
carers, working three eight-hour shifts, to cook his food
and clean up after him. He has a reinforced toilet seat in
the bathroom and a physiotherapist visits to stretch his legs
and perform chest massages to prevent deep vein thrombosis
and pneumonia. Mexican Manuel
Uribe was crowned as the global
fattest man when he weighed 572 kilograms. However, Uribe
reduced his weight to nearly half that and got married last
year. The Mexican successfully took off the "crown" and subsequently
Paul is now the king.
Paul, the world's
Heaviest man once reduced his weight to 285kg,
but it did not last long. After his mother died local government
sent 2 nurses to look after him.
Mr Mason, who needs emergency surgery to
reduce his weight or else he could die, currently lives on
benefits in a specially-adapted bungalow in Ipswich where
spends his time playing video games and watching TV, at a
cost of approximately £100,000-a-year to the taxpayer.
It was disclosed the bill for Ms Mason's
care in recent years has topped £1 million.
The 48-year-old was jailed in 1990 for stealing
cash from letters when he was a postman, according to a report
in The Sun which said he lost one third of his weight while
in Norwich Prison, dropping from his then 30 stone.
The newspaper reported he was given the
same portions of prison food as other inmates, but Mr Mason
regained his weight once released from jail.
His sister Louise, 43, told the newspaper:
"There were no fish and chip suppers or Chinese takeaways
in prison. He got down to about 20 stone - it was unbelievable.
But that's because he had no option but to eat healthily."
Mr Mason, the new world's Heaviest
man lives with his two cats in a bungalow in Ipswich
provided by the Suffolk Heritage Housing Association, which
is fitted with specially widened doors. He consumes around
20,000 calories a day - more than eight times what the average
male is supposed to eat.
Bob Singh Phagura, manager of the
Nacton Road Fish Bar in Ipswich, said every Friday Mr Mason
would come to his shop with his carers and buy:
* Four large cod
* Two pies
* Four battered sausages
* Six large portions of chips
* Mushy peas and curry sauce
* All washed down with bottles of Coke
'He would wait outside as we couldn't
fit him or his wheelchair into the shop,' said Mr Singh Phagura.
'His carers would take away the food. It was ten times more
than a normal person would eat.' It has also emerged that
Mr Mason would roll his 3ft-wide wheel-chair through a McDonald's
drive-thru to pick up huge quantities of burgers and chips.
The world's
Heaviest man needs a £20,000 life-saving op after
a compulsive eating disorder left him "super-obese". But Louise
is not sure he will survive it. She said: "He's in such bad
shape. His heart is the size of a football."
His doctor is worried about his heart not
being able to bear such a huge burden and decided to take
him for enforced medical care.
To transport him, health authorities even
considered sending a military helicopter, but instead they
used a refitted ambulance-a five-ton ambulance specially built
for obese people at a cost of £90,000.
An NHS Suffolk spokesman said: "The
most important aspect of transporting him is preserving his
dignity and looking after his safety. "We have not had anything
like this before."
His current hospital in Suffolk has a 4ft-wide
door to allow him to be moved in and out easily in his wheelchair.
Paul was hoisted out of his former
home in Ipswich by a forklift truck when he weighed 56st and
had to go to hospital for a hernia operation in 2002. Firefighters
took out a window and knocked down a wall.
Surgery will take place within three weeks
at St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, where the NHS specialist
bariatric service provides surgical weight-loss treatment.
And the health authority said they are
responsible for helping Paul because his disease is a kind
of mental illness.
The heaviest man of all time was the
American John Minnoch, who weighed in at 100.2 stone.
THE Mexican
hulk who lost the title of world's
heaviest bloke to Paul Mason told the bulging Briton:
"Let's do lunch."
Speaking from his home in Monterrey,
he said: "I've never heard of Ipswich but I'd like to go there
some day. Maybe me and Paul could meet up for lunch - low
calorie, of course."
Ex-electrician Manuel, who gorged on pizza
but can now at least move around, said he is grateful Paul
has taken his unwanted title from him. And becoming serious,
he warned the Brit to lose his flab - or lose his life. He
told the Suffolk man: "It's now or never." Related world records: Most
weight lost-world record set by Manuel Uribe
