LARD LUCK STORY
World’s former fattest man reveals he’s moving back to UK to claim benefits after ballooning to 35st
Former postie Paul, 59, said yesterday he wants to 'get his life back on track'
A BRIT expat once dubbed the world's fattest man is moving back to the UK so he can claim benefits, he revealed last night.
Paul Mason, 59, who weighed 70 stone at his heaviest, emigrated to the US in 2014 to start a new life after shedding the pounds following a gastric op.
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Paul Mason, once labelled the world's fattest man, on hope for surgery to remove excess skin after losing 46 of his 70 stone
But he has since ballooned in size again - nearly doubling his weight from 19 stone to a staggering 35 stone despite his surgery.
Now the former postal worker wants to move back to Blighty to "get his life back on track" after a series of personal setbacks.
While living in Massachusetts, we revealed Mr Mason was charged with stealing from US supermarket chain Walmart last year.
And he recently split from his fiancée Rebecca Mountain - with his heartache leading him to gorge again.
I need to return to the UK where I will be eligible for the assistance I need to get my life back on track
Paul Mason
Revealing his plans to head home, Paul, originally of Ipswich, Suffolk, wrote online: "I need to return to the UK where I will be eligible for the assistance I need to get my life back on track."
Mr Mason has been feasting on pizza and crisps all night following his split from Rebecca.
He now uses sticks to move around and needs a double knee replacement - which he will hope to get on the NHS.
Because of his overeating, Paul also needs an op to fix a herniated stomach staple that he damaged.
Paul told friends on Monday: "After nearly five years living in the US, the time has come for me to soon return to the UK.
"I will go into more detail in the coming weeks and months, but what I can say now is that over the years living in the US I made some wrong decisions which has led to some bad consequences."
MOVING HOME
The former postie added: "Some of those being letting my visa expire, moving in with someone who was a bad influence and because of these and other choices I made, I've put on weight.
"I'm now around 500 pounds, up from my lowest weight of 275.
"Looking forward, I need to return to the UK where I will be eligible for the assistance I need to get my life back on track."
Some locals in his hometown of Ipswich were outraged at Paul's shoplifting rap - and questioned his right to return to the UK just to cash in on benefits and free NHS healthcare.
A former neighbour said last year: "To leave the country and come back just because we have a free NHS is wrong — although it's completely understandable why you would do it.
"He should be looking not just at the weight but at how he thinks and feels so he can cope better when he's in a bad way."
BINGES IN BED AND HOISTED BY FORKLIFT
PAUL lived in a housing association bungalow in Ipswich before his move to the US.
He spent days languishing in a reinforced bed in his living room, with a hoist lifting him up to watch TV.
The home also had 5ft-wide doors so he did not get stuck in the frame.
Even his washroom had a reinforced toilet seat and bath.
On Fridays he would wait outside his local fish and chip shop and order four large cod, two pies, four battered sausages and six portions of chips.
He wolfed down Sunday roasts like snacks, totalling 20,000 calories a day, eight times the average for a man.
Paul received £75-per-week in incapacity benefit and a housing pay-out to cover his rent.
He relied on seven carers, working three eight-hour shifts, to cook his food and clean up after him, costing taxpayers’ £100,000-a-year.
Paul would spend his days watching telly, playing on a games console or surfing the internet using a keyboard which rested on his stomach.
The Sun told how Mr Mason was caught trying to steal £175-worth of aftershave, perfume, phone chargers and earphones last year, cops said.
A police officer's report read: "Store security advised the male party, later identified as Paul Mason, failed to pay for the items he had in his basket totalling approximately $225.
"I was further informed that they having (sic) been watching Paul as he has done this in past, as he fills up a basket and then leaves the store utilising a motorized cart."
Mr Mason's care was costing UK taxpayers £100,000-a-year and an estimated £1.5million in total before his move to live with eight stone vegetarian Ms Mountain in 2014.
HOISTED BY FORKLIFT
In 2002, fire crews had to take out a window and brickwork so a forklift could take Mr Mason out of the house and to hospital in a five-ton ambulance during a medical emergency.
By 2009 he was scoffing 20,000 calories a day - including three family-sized takeaway meals an evening.
Docs warned he needed a life-saving gastric bypass to shrink his stomach to the size of an egg, which he underwent in 2010.
MOST READ IN WORLD NEWS
By 2009 he needed a life-saving operation after putting away 20,000 calories a day - including three family-sized takeaways an evening.
In 2013 Ms Mountain contacted Paul after seeing a documentary about him, and the pair were engaged two years later.
Despite him getting down to 19 stone, the couple called off their engagement in September 2015.
EX'S TELLY PROPOSAL
REBECCA fell for Paul after seeing a 2013 documentary on his struggles.
She traced him on Facebook to see if she could help him get a skin removal op in the US.
After long Skype chats Rebecca proposed on US chatshow The View.
She said at the time: “We just clicked straight away. We have similar goals and we are very compatible.”
The pair ordered sterling silver engagement rings. And following Paul’s skin removal op in New York in 2015, Rebecca said she could not wait to go on dates with the “new” him.
But they split in September 2015.
Writing on Facebook, Paul said: “Rebecca and I are still good friends. I struggled to get motivated in our relationship and that’s why it ended.”
Rebecca, who makes wooden furniture for cats, added: “We are no longer a couple but I stand behind him 100 per cent.”
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