The subject of the TLC show “The World’s Fattest Man” is fleeing the US for Britain — for an estimated $137,000 in free health care.
Paul Mason, who weighed almost 1,000 pounds before having gastric band surgery in 2009, has been almost constantly hospitalized in Athol, Massachusetts, after starting to regain weight after a bad breakup.
He feared being crippled financially by US medical costs — so is instead moving back to his native Britain this week to get the work covered for free by the National Health Service.
“We all fall apart when things get tough. Doing it over here in America has been the worst thing I could have done because there’s no support. But there is in the UK,” he told The Sun.
Comparing binge-eating to having an orgasm, Paul told the paper, “You don’t choose this lifestyle. The addiction never goes away. You don’t conquer it. You can just keep it at bay.”
Paul, 58, who now weighs more than 500 pounds from a low of 275, told The Sun that he needs surgery to replace his knees, repair eight stomach hernias and adjust his bypass.
He also needs continual medication, monthly iron transfusions, counseling sessions, mobility aids and home modifications.
The Sun estimated the procedures will cost the NHS at least $137,000 — and could be even more if he gets free housing.
“As a British citizen Paul is entitled to free health care — but this really takes the biscuit,” complained James Roberts of the TaxPayers’ Alliance. “The NHS should not be a backup option for health problems abroad.”
But Paul insisted he was not a freeloader.
“I can understand people in Britain saying, ‘Why should my tax pay for him?’” he said. “But I’m no sponger — I deserve it as much as any Brit.”
Paul first moved to the US in 2014 for surgery to remove the flaps of loose skin left by his weight loss.
He stayed after finding love with American Rebecca Mountain — with their story covered by the TLC show — and blamed their split on the binge eating sparking his weight gain.
His Facebook account is filled with posts of him returning to hospitals near his Massachusetts home and complaints about endless procedures, including having a toe amputated.
The Sun says his move will also mean avoiding legal problems over an unpaid $250 fine for stealing $1,000 in food.
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