Story By: James King, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Real Press

An overweight Chinese man who was horrified when he realised he had got even fatter during the coronavirus lockdown has undergone a five-hour sleeve gastrectomy in a bid to lose weight.

The 26-year-old man, identified only as Mr Zhou, weighs a reported 278 kilogrammes (612 lb or 43 st) after his weight increased by an incredible 100 kilogrammes (220 lbs) during coronavirus lockdown.

The young man who lived in Wuhan which was the centre of the pandemic runs an Internet cafe where he usually does the night shift, so even when he had been working, he was often not getting around much.

He said the nightshift was also often accompanied by midnight snacks, which got even worse when they went into lockdown and he was at home and bored.

He claimed however that food was not the main problem, as he just tended to put on weight almost whenever he ate.

However when he realised how his weight had ballooned during lockdown, and he was having trouble sleeping and breathing even when lying down, he determined to do something about it, especially after being admitted to hospital struggling to breathe on 1st June.

He was treated in Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University and transferred to the intensive care unit the next morning when doctors told him if he did not lose weight, he would die.

They said that as well as weighing 278 kilogrammes, his heart was failing and his lungs were no longer working properly. They also said his weight was a major obstacle to surgery, but nevertheless recommended the option and he agreed.

As a result he was transferred to the general ward of the Obesity and Metabolic Disease Surgery Center where he underwent a so-called sleeve gastrectomy that involved removing around 80 percent of his stomach, and leaving it not much bigger than a sleeve to reduce the amount of food he is capable of eating.

The operation was carried out on 3rd August at the hospital in Wuhan which is in Hubei in China and that was under lockdown longer than any other region in the country as it was at the heart of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lockdown there was introduced on 23rd January was only lifted on 8th April and during that time 50,000 people were infected, and more than 2,500 died according to official statistics.

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