World’s Fattest Man Keith Martin Dies of Pneumonia

Dubbed by media as the world's fattest man, British citizen Keith Martin died of pneumonia at 44.

Martin's death came just eight months after a successful gastric sleeve which removed three-quarters of his stomach. Before the weight loss procedure, Martin was bed-ridden and didn't leave his home for ten years because of his weight.

The drawn out battle Martin raged with his weight started after his mother died when he was 16. Bingeing became his way of coping with depression. His weight ballooned in his twenties until he reached 70 stone (980 pounds), The Daily Mirror reported.

Huge amount of super cheap fast food became a staple for Martin, who was unemployed. According to reports, he would feast on 20,000 calories a day, which is almost 10 times what doctors would recommend. His diet featured six eggs for breakfast then pizzas, kebabs, Chinese take-outs and Big Macs for lunch and dinner. He would drink 3.5 liters of coffee and two liters of fizzy drinks.

"Keith, like many people, had some emotional issues and he turned to food for comfort," said Martin's surgeon, Kesava Mannur.

"That type of behaviour is nothing new, but what is new is how easy it is for people in that situation to buy a lot of cheap junk food," he added.

Following his patient's death, Mannur has called for the government to impose taxes on junk foods.

According to the surgeon, "the government needs to make unhealthy fast food more expensive. Otherwise we'll continue to see more and more people like Keith."

Martin's surgery was filmed for Channel 5 documentary 70 Stone & Almost Dead. He explained in 2012: "I started eating to ease the pain and before I knew it, I was binging every time something upset me."

"I've always been depressed. I am an agoraphobic - I'm afraid of public places - but it was never treated. "I just want to be happy, without needing food to make me happy."