Just how serious can the obesity problem get? A couple in Plymouth is considered to be too obese to work by none other than the government.
Forty-five-year-old Stephen Beer and 43-year-old Michelle Coombe are some of the growing number of obese people in the United Kingdom. While others are still capable of landing a job or running a business, the couple, however, is seen to be just too big to be able to work and thus they receive regular benefits from the government.
How were they able to do that? It turns out that this couple, who has a total weight of around 750 pounds (about 54 stones), has a metabolic disease. Beer, for example, has hypertension and type 2 diabetes. This allows them to claim for disability living allowance.
The couple receives £2,000 a month or up to £20,000 a year. In fact, the couple has just recently wedded, spending a total of £3,000 from these benefits.
The wedding, which became part of a documentary of channel 5, featured Beer wearing a specially designed suit and the bride in a white sleeveless gown. The guests, who numbered to 50, were then treated to a meal composed of 3 courses with starters such as duck pate and American toasties or minosonill soup. After that, they were invited to a buffet meal. The couple brought in their favorite kebab restaurant.
Their big size, nevertheless, takes a toll on their health when the couple had to call in emergency help when Beer became breathless. He also has to rely on carers especially when he needs to be cleaned.
Although they claimed that off camera, they do eat healthy food-they are also under a weight management course-they were videoed celebrating the few pounds they lost over kebabs.
Beer once owned a cleaning business, but he lost it. He also suffered a stroke. He believes these things caused his uncontrollable eating.