22-6-2023 (JAKARTA) A 300kg man in Indonesia has died in hospital due to complications from his morbid obesity. Muhammad Fajri, 27, passed away at 1.25am from a severe infection in his leg, according to reports from Indonesian media. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital director Lies Dina Liastuti confirmed that 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 had told a press conference when Fajri was warded on June 14.
Fajri was first admitted to a hospital in Tangerang two weeks earlier before he was transferred to Jakarta. Videos of him being taken to Tangerang went viral in Indonesia after he had to be moved with a forklift onto a pickup truck that brought him to the hospital. A local disaster management official said the forklift was used as Fajri was “too big to walk”, adding it took around two hours to lift him as the door of his home had to be broken down.
“His condition is due to excessive calorie intake and this is exacerbated by the lack of physical activity,” a doctor told Kompas.
Fajri’s case is an extreme example of the obesity crisis in Indonesia, which has one of the highest numbers of overweight people in Asia.
