After gaining 20 stones in lockdown, the ex-world’s fattest man admitted to taking an overdose as a cry for help.
Paul Mason, 61 years old, was from Ipswich. He weighed in at 80 stone at his highest, but dropped to 19 stone after he met and had a gastric bypass surgery in 2010.
After his 13-year-old relationship with Rebecca Mountain, he decided to end it. He returned from the US to the UK and began to accumulate pounds.
Paul tried to take his own lives after his weight ballooned to 39 stone six month ago.
Paul Mason, 61, (seen in 2011) from Ipswich, has revealed how he took an overdose as a ‘cry for help’ after putting on 20 stone in lockdown
Speaking to The Mirror, Paul said: ‘Nobody was listening, nothing was happening, I could see myself slipping back into the bad old days so it was a cry for help.
“When you are at your wits end in pain all day, every night, you become depressed.”
Paul admitted that he had taken a cockail from his prescription drugs before immediately regretting it and calling an ambulance.
The lift in his building had been broken and eight men were called to take him out in a sling.
Paul had to spend 2 weeks in hospital before he could fully recover.
He concluded that it was all very bad. I was desperate for help and this was the only way I knew to get it.
Paul is now focusing on recovery through therapy and vows that he will ‘get over it’.
Paul, who became famous on TLC’s World’s Fattest Man, said that when he was at his heaviest, his teeth would fall out from 40 chocolate bars a daily diet. Pictured by Paul in 2009.
Paul stated that the ‘disgusting” hospital plans were drawn up as a result of Paul’s size.
Paul was previously in the news when he revealed that a hospital had plans to put him to death in an abattoir.
Paul said that he was astonished by the plans that were drawn up during his three years on a hospital ward. They included giving Paul an animal cremation if necessary.
In a new documentary, The World’s Fattest Man: Ten Years On, the former postman revealed to ITV that he was subjected to inhumane treatment as he struggled with his weight.
Paul stated, “If I died in hospital they wouldn’t be able deal with someone of my size so they made up a form to say that they would have me taken to an abattoir where large animals go and die …. and I would be cremated in the animal Cremation.”
“I thought it was disgusting. He said, “I couldn’t believe that they were doing this,”
Paul explained that when he was the heaviest, it was more difficult to leave the home. As his 40 chocolate bars per day made his teeth brittle, he would take the broken ones out by himself, according the Sun.
He claimed that he could kill nerves by heating needles up, sterilizing his mouth, and then inserting the needle directly into his gum.
Paul briefly fell in love (pictured) with Rebecca Mountain, who was 13 years his junior. He had lost his excess weight by having gastric bypass surgery.
According to the 60-year old, he has removed at most 12 of his own natural teeth using this method.
Paul, who gained fame on TLC’s World’s Fattest Man has struggled to control his weight since then.
He was able to shrink down to 19 stone after a successful gastric bypass surgery in 2010 and soon moved to the United States to be with Rebecca Mountain – 13 years his junior.
Paul had operations to remove excess skin while he was living in the States.
After a few pizzas, he quickly gained more weight and reached over 30 stone. His relationship with Rebecca ended.
Paul previously revealed to the Mirror that the US’s basic health insurance was not sufficient for his health.
Before moving to join Ms Mountain, an eight stone vegetarian, in Massachusetts in 2014, Paul’s care was costing UK taxpayers £100,000-a-year and an estimated £1.5million in total.
Paul claims that his weight increased after his relationship with Rebecca (pictured), because he would gorge himself on pizza.
Fire crews had to remove a window and brickwork in 2002 to allow a forklift to lift the patient out of the house.
After consuming 20,000 calories per day, including three meals a night from a take-out restaurant, he needed a life-saving operation in 2009.
In 2010, he underwent gastric bypass surgery, which reduced his stomach size to that of an egg.
Ms Mountain, after watching a documentary on him, contacted Mr Mason in 2013.
He and his wife got engaged, and in May 2015, he had four stones of excess skin removed from his body in a nine-hour procedure.
The NHS had refused to do the £30,000 operation until his weight had been stable for two years.
The couple ended their engagement in September 2015, despite him being down to 19 stone.
Paul turned to stealing from supermarkets to fund his consumption and was fined $50 during a US court appearance in November 2018.
HIn 2019, I returned to the UK “for the help I need to get back on track”
At the time Paul claimed that he needed multiple operations, including new knees, a hip and numerous hernia operations, costing the NHS over £100,000.
Paul returned to the UK after nearly five years of living and working in the United States. He stated that he needed to reorganize his life.