Jon Brower Minnoch

Jon Brower Minnoch (1941-1983) was the heaviest man recorded in history. At his peak weight, he was approximately 1400 lbs. (635 kg), still 200 pounds lighter than female Carol Yager, the heaviest human ever recorded, however her peak weight is unconfirmed. This figure was only a close estimation, however, because his extreme size, poor health, and lack of mobility prevented use of a scale. He was a resident of Bainbridge Island, WA, USA. He suffered from obesity since he was a child. At the age of 12, he weighed 292 lb. (132 kg), and by age 22 he was 6 ft. 1 in. (1.85 m) in height and weighed 392 lb. (178 kg). His weight continued to increase steadily until his dramatic hospitalization in March 1978 at age 37 due to cardiac and respiratory failure. Never a heavy eater, Minnoch was diagnosed with massive generalized edema, which caused his body to accumulate excess extracellular fluid. Upon his hospital admission, it was estimated by endocrinologist Dr. Robert Schwartz that over 900 lb. (408 kg) of his overall body mass was retained fluid.

Transportation for Minnoch was extremely difficult. It took over a dozen firefighters and rescue personnel, a specially modified stretcher, and a ferry boat to transport him to University Hospital in Seattle. There, he was placed on two beds pushed together, and it took 13 people to simply roll him over for linen changes.

He was discharged from the hospital after sixteen months on a strict diet of 1,200 calories per day. He weighed 476 lb. (216 kg), with his weight loss of approximately 924 lb. (419 kg) being the largest ever documented. However, he was readmitted to the hospital just over a year later, in October 1981, after his weight doubled to 952 lb. (432 kg). With his underlying condition of edema being incurable and difficult to continually treat, he died just twenty-three months later on September 10, 1983 at age 42 and a weight of 798 lb. (362 kg) with an incredible 105.3 BMI.