http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americ....ap/index.html
Formerly half-ton man can leave house at last
Story Highlights• Mexican who once weighed 1,235 pounds feels sun for first
time in 5 years
• Forklift places bedridden man on truck for joyous ride around town
• Man refused bariatric surgery, is using high-protein Zone diet
• He hopes to reach goal of 250 pounds within four years
SAN NICOLAS DE LOS GARZA, Mexico (AP) -- A man who once weighed well over
half a ton left his house for the first time in five years Wednesday --
wheeled outside on his bed to greet neighbors and see a mariachi band.
"The sky is beautiful and blue, and what I want is to enjoy the sun," said
Manuel Uribe, who had once been certified by doctors as weighing 1,235
pounds.
Though still unable to leave his bed, Uribe has lost 395 pounds since he
began a high-protein diet a year ago. He now weighs about 840 pounds.
To celebrate the milestone, six people pushed Uribe's wheel-equipped iron
bed out to the street as a mariachi band played and a crowd gathered. Then,
a forklift lifted him onto a truck and the 41-year-old rode through the
streets of San Nicolas de los Garza, a Monterrey suburb.
With dozens of reporters and photographers in tow, Uribe traveled along,
passing the town's plaza and church and waving at clusters of people eager
to get a glimpse of him.
"It fills me with joy to see he's getting better and getting a little sun,"
Uribe's neighbor Guadalupe Guerra said. "I would go crazy if I had to be
inside my house for so many years."
Uribe was a chubby kid and weighed more than 250 pounds as an adolescent.
In 1992, when he was 26, his weight began ballooning further, he said.
Since the summer of 2002, Uribe has been bedridden, relying on his mother
and friends to feed and clean him.
He drew worldwide attention in January 2006 when he pleaded for help on
national television. Afterward, an Italian and a Spanish doctor both
visited and offered gastric bypass surgery.
But Uribe chose to accept help from Mexican nutritionists working with the
Zone diet. He says he will stick to that diet until he reaches his goal of
265 pounds.
"My goal is to leave the house on my own but I know that will be a long
process," he said. Doctors say it may take three to four years for Uribe to
reach his goal.
Uribe said he plans to start a foundation to help overweight people get
medical assistance and teach them about healthful eating habits.
Formerly half-ton man can leave house at last 
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