THE WORLD'S FATTEST MAN

'I ate 20,000 calories a day, had a 6ft waist... and last left my house on 9/11': Horrifying life of the blonde-haired little boy who grew into the world's fattest man

• Keith Martin consumed up to 20,000 calories and would eat mounds of bread and take-aways
• He is now desperate to lose weight and is only consuming 1,500 calories a day

The world's fattest man has revealed he has not been able to leave his home for the past ten years.
Keith Martin said he specifically remembers the last time he left the house was on 9/11. Since then he has ballooned to 58 stone and was recently revealed as the heaviest man on Earth.
Mr Martin, 42, has said his condition has driven him to the brink of suicide and is now desperately trying to lost weight so reduce his 6ft waistline.

Keith Martin, the fattest man on Earth, has revealed how he has not left his London home since 9/11

Having once eaten up to 20,000 calories a day he has now restricted himself to 1,500 calories.
At the height of his eating Keith would scoff down a packet of bacon, six sausages, six eggs with a mound of toast and beans.

Lunch was more of the same plus sandwiches and dinner could be two large pizzas, three kebabs or a giant Chinese curry.

Snacks included packets of biscuits and sweets, cakes and family-size chocolate bars. Before bed he'd have four sandwiches with ham, Spam or bacon. He drank two litres of cola, plus six pints of coffee with sugar.
Now he has reduced his diet to just four slices of bread, sometimes topped with spam or a can of mini-hotdogs, and one ready meal a day.

Mr Martin as a healthy-looking young child

Mr Martin, who is 5ft 9in tall, has already lost 10cm of his girth. 'It's been a tough process, but I've been trying to stick to my new diet regime.
'Finding out that I'm the fattest man in the world has been the wake-up call I needed. I don't blame anyone other than myself for this horrible situation.
'Doctors have told me I won't reach 50 unless I do something drastic. I need to lose half my weight before they'll give me a gastric band.
'I'd love to be as slim as I was in my youth, but what I really want is simply to sit comfortably in a normal-sized chair. I am determined to get this weight off.'
'I used to eat four Big Macs plus fries and an apple turnover for lunch. Now, I can honestly say I don't even miss food. I have to do this for myself and my family.'
Mr Martin revealed how he started cutting back in September when he became bed-bound by two giant hernias which are the size of four bowling balls.
Then in January, Keith was visited by a team of healthcare professionals in his home who warned him: 'Take our advice or die.'
'I am trying to heed their advice, but nothing has hit home like the headlines around the world talking about my weight,' he said. 'It has been horrible, but it's made me even more determined.'
Mr Martin is a recluse who prefers to find solace in the latest Tom Clancy novel or watching his favourite science fiction films and playing video games on his PlayStation.
The last time he left his house - other than four trips to the hospital - was on September 11, 2001, the day terror planes brought down America's World Trade Centre.
'I remember it so clearly because everywhere people were reacting in horror to the attacks. But for me, there was a good side to that day because it meant I would no longer have to leave the house.
'The last thing I did was visit the Jobcentre. It had got to the point where I couldn't walk up the steps to sign on.
'Since then I've been on incapacity benefit, because I haven't been fit or well enough to work, even though I would love to.'
Now stuck in his reinforced bed, each day he is visited by seven carers who hand wash him and change his sheets. Doctors and nurses make home visits to check on his health.
Each fortnight he received £303 in benefits shares a three-bedroom terraced council house in Harlesden, northwest London, with his two sisters.
His elder sister, a former shop clerk who he refuses to name after hurtful comments were posted about her on websites, is his best friend.

Mr Martin's eating started to increase after his mother died and he took comfort in food

She also does the food shopping and most of the cooking. But a tearful Keith lashed out at critics who have blamed her for his size. He said: 'I live with my two sisters - one of them has severe special needs.
'The other is my 54-year-old sister who has done everything for me.
'She would plead with me to eat less, and even trick me into eating smaller portions. She convinced me to make healthier choices, like cooking burgers in the oven rather than frying them.

'But for a long time I could still walk to the kitchen and feed myself. And it was difficult for her to say no to me - she loves me and didn't want to say no when I told her I was hungry and wanted food.
'Whenever I say things like "I'm a fat waste of space" or "I don't want to go on," she is there to tell me I'm not allowed to think that. She's incredible and people have no right to judge.
'I should be taking care of my sisters, not the other way around.'
The youngest son of eight average-sized kids raised by single mum Alma, Keith was a shy child who loved reading.

He said: 'My mum was amazing - always scrimping and saving to make ends meet. We ate what we could afford - Spam and mash, egg and chips, mincemeat stew.
'We ate fruit and veg and my relationship with food was completely normal. At school I was bullied about having big ears. I didn't fit in and I hated being there, which caused problems.'
By the time he was 13, he was skiving so much authorities threatened to take him into care.
Instead, he was sent to a private school for troubled teens in Hampshire. But then tragically, when he was 16, his mum died of double bronchial pneumonia.
'It was a total surprise. She'd been in and out of hospital with diabetes and severe asthma, but we never expected it.
'I felt so sad and guilty for the hassle I'd caused her. I started eating to ease the pain and before I knew it, I was binging every time something upset me.'
Mr Martin said he would spend an average of £30 a day on food and by the time he turned 25 'was a complete mess'.

'I was getting bigger but didn't notice until I could no longer fit into the extra large joggers and T-shirts on the high street.

Mr Martin with a selection of some of the foods he used to consume in a day but he is now determined to lose the weight

Behind closed doors, Mr Martin continued to gain weight. By the time he was 32 he was a supersize 5XL and had to buy his clothes from specialist shops online.
In 2008, he had to swap his bedroom for a double mattress on the living room floor because he could no longer climb the stairs.
By the end of 2010, he had outgrown the 8XL clothing - the largest possible size - and had to lie naked under a sheet.
In September 2009 the emergency services were called when he was unable to move and he tipped the scales at a whopping 50 stone.
It was also the first time he'd seen a doctor in his adult life. He said: 'I couldn't believe what they said - I thought maybe I weighed half that. And I've continued to gain since.
'I didn't think there was anything I could do. My self esteem was so low - it always has been that I just didn't care about myself.
'I've been to the hospital four times after falling over or because I was having stomach pain or couldn't move. Every time it's the same thing - you need to lose the weight, which I know is right.
'I've got an irregular heart beat, severe asthma, horrible migraines and constant aches and pains.
'The last time I was able to sit in a chair was seven years ago - and that was a two-seater. I used to have to board buses from the back door because I couldn't fit through the bars at the front.
'People in the street would call me "lardy" and "fatso". They would stare without even trying to hide it.
'It got to the point where I couldn't take it anymore. The last time I stood was last September when I fell over and had to be taken to the hospital again. But before that I was getting around the house on my own at least.'
Mr Martin now spends all his time in his reinforced bed, held in by protective barriers.
Last year he splashed out on a 42in flatscreen TV because 'that is what I spend all day looking at.'
He said: 'I spend a lot of time sleeping because I have so little energy.
'Looking back at my life, I've always been depressed. I am an agoraphobic - I'm afraid of public places - and I guess maybe I always have been, but it was never treated.
'In a way I don't feel any different to when I was in my teens. I'm the same person, only now I've got this giant body that hurts all the time.
'I just want to be happy, without needing food to make me happy. I want to be able to take my border collie Cheyanne for a walk - I'd take her wherever she wanted to go.'

Mr Martin gets emotional talking about his weight and said he only has himself to blame for his massive size