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Agencies:

Coronavirus | Former �World�s heaviest man� defeats COVID-19

Mexico
September 24, 2020

A Mexican who was once the world�s heaviest man has beaten the Coronavirus, helped -- he believes by several years of dieting, exercise and stomach reduction surgery that saw him shed hundreds of kilos.

Juan Pedro Franco used to weigh 595 kilos (1,310 pounds) more than the average male polar bear and enough to be certified by Guinness World Records in 2017.

The 36 year old now weighs around 208 kilos, but his history of diabetes, high blood pressure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease made his battle against the virus particularly gruelling.

�It�s a very aggressive disease. I had a headache, body ache, breathing difficulty, a fever. I was a very high risk person,� Franco told from his home in the Central state of Aguascalientes.

Mexico, which has the world�s 4th highest COVID-19 death toll has the highest obesity rate on the planet among children and the 2nd highest among adults. A quarter of the more than 74,000 Mexicans who have died after catching the virus were overweight.

�Patients who are diabetic, have hypertension and heart disease are more susceptible to serious complications� from the virus, said Jose Antonio Castaneda, the doctor who headed the team that treated Franco�s obesity.