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300kg Indonesian man who was forklifted onto a truck to be driven to hospital dies from illness

According to doctors, Mr Muhammad Fajri, 27, died at 1.25am because of a severe infection in his leg after his weight disrupted his body’s metabolism.

Lok Jian Wen

Lok Jian Wen

The Straits Times

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Mr Muhammad Fajri died because of a severe infection in his leg after his weight disrupted his body’s metabolism. PHOTO: BANTENKICAU/TWITTER

June 23, 2023

JAKARTA – A man in Indonesia who tipped the scales at around 300kg and developed complications from his morbid obesity has succumbed to illness in a Jakarta hospital, reported the Indonesian media.

Mr Muhammad Fajri, 27, died at 1.25am because of a severe infection in his leg after his weight disrupted his body’s metabolism, Dr Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital director Lies Dina Liastuti told reporters on Thursday.

Dr Lies said Mr Fajri had been receiving treatment for about a week, with a team of 16 specialists assigned to his case.

“This is something very unusual, for someone to become this big. This would put huge pressure on the body’s metabolism. The lungs and heart would struggle to function… especially since he does not move around much,” Dr Lies told a press conference when Mr Fajri was admitted to the hospital on June 14.

“There are infected wounds on his skin. It is hard for him to breathe because of the infection and all.”

Mr Fajri was first admitted to a hospital in Tangerang city two weeks ago, before he was transferred to the hospital in Jakarta.

Videos of him being taken to the Tangerang hospital went viral in Indonesia after a forklift had to be used to move him onto a pickup truck that then drove him to the hospital.

A local disaster management official said the forklift was used as Mr Fajri was “too big to walk”, adding that it took about two hours to lift him as the door of his home had to be broken down to enable him to be moved out of the house.

“His condition is due to excessive calorie intake and this is exacerbated by the lack of physical activity,” a doctor told news outlet Kompas.

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