He started off as a 550 pound man (pretty heavy to begin with), but when he tore
his ACL, the hospital demanded $300 dollars up front (which neither he nor his
wife could afford at that time).

So instead of seeking help, he drove home, and sat in his chair...and prayed.


and prayed. And texted prayers to friends. And posted prayers in his blog.

and prayed, and prayed, and prayed.


When he died, he weighed 800 pounds, was covered in bed sores, and had to be cut out of his chair.



This is a highly unusual case. http://www.ksn.com/conten...pq9Ww.cspx


.
[Edited 12/10/09 2:58am]

Thats so sad, and so wrong in so many ways

obviously some eating went on in the midst of all that praying

hopefully he also got up for bathroom needs....

why did his wife just let him sit and vegetate? this is worse than toilet lady!

BklynBabe said:

that's what i was thinking. obviously his wife was an enabler since he
just sat in his chair and still gained 250 pounds.

i understand that it's an illness, just like anorexia but still, when
you can't move anymore from sheer size, someone who loves you should
step in and cut back your food to basic needs, with only healthy and
fresh whole foods.

sad

BklynBabe said:

That is what I was thinking... did he not use the washroom?

I am sure that with in 6 months he could have come up with $300....

That´s a very sad story. What´s more sad is that he literally gave up and probably relied on his prayers alone. There´s only so much that prayer can do for you. He rather should have pondered upon that old American saying of "God helps those who help themselves" instead of doing nothing but eating and reading the Bible.

As Marvin Gaye once said in his song "Anger" ;"It´s a sin to treat your body bad."

I found the bolded parts the most interesting:

[i]"He read his Bible daily, he spent his full focus on God," said Webb. "And he was literally waiting and praying for a Job miracle. If anybody knows the Bible and knows Job, he really and fully believed that God was going to heal him just like he did Job, because he said he couldn't think of a better testimony to go out and to tell people."

For eight months they had no visitors. Webb rarely left his side, and she tried to keep him clean.

"I couldn't get him rolled over to use a bedpan," said Webb.

Other than eating and reading the Bible, she says Tillmon posted sermons online and texted messages of faith through his cell phone.

"He wanted so much to get up and you know, he wanted to tell everybody what Jesus done," said Webb.

Webb says Tillmon consistently told her not to call for help. She says Wednesday morning he was in so much pain that she finally called an ambulance.

Greenwood County authorities say they found Tillmon covered with sores, and that he appeared to weigh about 800 pounds. They say he was stuck to his chair, and they had to saw the recliner apart. They cut a large hole around the front door to get him out.

He died at the hospital.

Webb says she has no regrets about leaving him in that recliner.

"If I feel anything right now, it's envy for him because I wish he had taken me with him," said Webb.

Greenwood County deputies will not charge Webb with a crime. They determined she had no malicious intent of neglect.

Neighbors at the trailer park said they had no idea Webb had a husband inside that trailer the whole time.






The poor guy, may he finally rest in peace, should have done something about his financial and medical situation instead of text messaging all the time...maybe ask for help or collect money from donations or whatever. This is one example of religiousity gone wrong.
[Edited 12/10/09 7:53am]

Speechless.
RIP

This is so sad! The saddest part is that he thought prayer would help him heal. I've never seen that in any medical books.

He did pray and the Lord did try to help him and he wasn't listening. he had every opportunity to reach out on the internet for help! He could have used the internet to get a credit card, or find a diet or find a hospital that would help him....

To gain that much weight, I'm sure he ate more than $300 worth of food!

I feel bad for him that he died but he didn't have to....

People, no he did not get up to use the bathroom or washup. The wife even states she could not roll him over to use a bedpan. She just let this happen without calling for help. That is insanity. I do think she is negligent because when someone is so mentally ill that they choose to sit in a chair and shit themselves as some kind of refusal to accept reality while they text on their phone, well it's time to call 911.. or they might die. Oh wait. He did.

IstenSzek said:

If they couldn't afford $300 to take him to the hospital, I imagine they weren't able to provide for themselves the best of nutrition, assuming they would even know what foods would be better for them.

Cinnie said:

one carrot and some tap water....can't be any cheaper!