--- title: Manuel Uribe Fattest Man in the World Dies in Mexico description: The man who held the record for world's heaviest man has died. canonical: https://time.com/119370/worlds-heaviest-man-dies/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-27T17:51:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:48:38.955Z og:title: World's Heaviest Man Dies og:description: He was bedridden for more than a decade. og:url: https://time.com/119370/worlds-heaviest-man-dies/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt84bc0f4edbf2edd2/698690f035ba6f1a2cc0224f/mexico-obit-heaviest-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: mexico-obit-heaviest-2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: World's Heaviest Man Dies twitter:description: He was bedridden for more than a decade. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt84bc0f4edbf2edd2/698690f035ba6f1a2cc0224f/mexico-obit-heaviest-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Record Holder for World's Heaviest Man Has Died > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer May 27, 2014 5:51 PM UTC  Manuel Uribe eats in his bed at home in Monterrey, Mexico, January 19, 2006. Manuel Uribe eats in his bed at home in Monterrey, Mexico, January 19, 2006. Luis Reyes / Reuters  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer May 27, 2014 5:51 PM UTC Manuel “Meme” Uribe, once the heaviest man in the world, passed away Monday at 48, [Guinness World Records reports](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2014/5/manuel-uribe-the-worlds-heaviest-man-passes-away-at-48-57572/). The Associated Press [reports](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/mexican-man-once-worlds-heaviest-dies-48) that the passing of the Monterrey, Mexico, resident was confirmed by the health department of Nuevo Leon state. The cause of death remains unknown, but he was hospitalized earlier this month because of an abnormal heartbeat. A crane had to be use to transport him there. Uribe, a [former mechanic](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7692672.stm), had been bedridden since 2002, but did leave the house to get married to his longtime girlfriend Claudia Solis, who would cook him chicken fajitas and help him bathe, according to[ _People_](http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20236243,00.html). He arrived at the Oct. 26, 20o8, ceremony sitting in a white canopy bed in a white suit atop the back of a pickup truck. For the first dance, the bride and groom sat holding hands, swaying from side to side to the rhythm of a romantic song. His mother Orquedia Garza [told the AP](http://www.latimes.com/news/la-on-married28-2008oct28-story.html) that he stuck to his diet that day and did not eat the wedding cake. When Guinness World Record certified Uribe as the world’s heaviest man in January 2006, he weighed 1,235 pounds. The records organization said he reportedly slimmed down to 840 pounds in 2007, but gained some of it back, reportedly weighing 980 pounds by March 2012\. He was on [the Zone Diet](http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/zonediet/33571/) at one point, and [The Discovery Channel](http://press.discovery.com/emea/dsc/programs/worlds-heaviest-man/) documented his weight loss journey in general. As he once summed up the struggle to the AP, “People think that I can eat a whole cow but it’s not just overeating, it’s also a hormonal problem.”  Manuel Uribe jokes as he holds a fruit cake with his girlfriend Claudia Solis outside his house in the suburb of San Nicolas de los Garza in the northern city of Monterrey, Mexico, June 11, 2008. Tomas Bravo / Reuters  In this June 9, 2008 file photo, Manuel "Meme" Uribe, 42, shows how he exercises from his bed during an interview in Monterrey, Mexico. Monica Rueda / AP  Manuel Uribe talks on the phone at his home in the suburb of San Nicolas de los Garza, in Monterrey, Mexico, August 8, 2008. Tomas Bravo / Reuters ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/119370/worlds-heaviest-man-dies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/119370/worlds-heaviest-man-dies/"},"headline":"The Record Holder for World's Heaviest Man Has Died","datePublished":"2014-05-27T17:51:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:48:38.955Z","description":"He had been bedridden for more than a decade","url":"https://time.com/119370/worlds-heaviest-man-dies/","keywords":["Newsfeed","World"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt84bc0f4edbf2edd2/698690f035ba6f1a2cc0224f/mexico-obit-heaviest-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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