10 People Whose Lives Were Saved By Being Fat

10 People Whose Lives Were Saved By Being Fat

1. The Man Who was Stabbed 38 times But Lived Because He is Fat

A UK man who was stabbed 38 times and left for dead survived because he was overweight.

Danny Ross, 44, woke up in a hospital needing 70 stitches just hours after he was strangled with a belt and stabbed dozens of times in his apartment in Exeter, Devon by a crazed David Johnson. Johnson, 33, had showed up at the 224-pound computer analyst's house to accuse him of stealing money from a family member.

Ross had been watching TV when Johnson launched a frenzied attack, using his belt to throttle Ross until he passed out and then stabbing Ross 38 times with a kitchen knife.

Ross was rushed to the hospital for treatment after another man who was also in his apartment dialed the police. He said he woke up in the hospital several hours later and was told about the extent of his injuries. "After I saw the photographs the police took I couldn't believe it. If I had been thinner I would have been dead," he said. "The medical staff tried to be tactful in the way they described it but I am heavier than I would like to be and they said it was that extra weight that saved my life."

2. The Overweight Man Who Survived a Deadly Flesh-Eating Bug Because of His Extra Bulk

While the more portly among us may worry about love handles and double chins, for Russell Kimble a bit of excess baggage proved to be a lifesaver. The 39-year-old, who once tipped the scales at 171kg (27st), lived to tell the tale after a flesh-eating bug left him just two hours from certain death.

However, he survived the potentially fatal infection thanks to the fact that the parasite was unable to devour all of his skin. The transport manager from Chatham, Kent contracted necrotising fasciitis, which had been dormant in his body, during an operation to remove an abscess from his groin.Within hours, the bug was eating away at the deeper layers of his flesh at a rate of almost 3cm (1.2in) an hour.

But nine days and 20 operations later, Mr. Kimble was free of the threat thanks to doctors who removed a 6.4kg (1st) area of infected tissue. Speaking about the ordeal, the 39-year-old said, "I had a lot of weight to lose but being a big chap probably saved my life, along with all the work of the doctors and nurses."

Mr. Kimble spent nine days in an induced coma at Medway Maritime Hospital in Kent before the final graft from his left leg, which was "so big it took 300 staples to secure it in place." After a seven-week stint in the hospital, he was eventually released, free of the flesh-eating bug 32kg (5st) lighter.

3. The German Man Who Survived a Fall from a Balcony by Landing on His Belly

A fat, sausage-munching German man survived a twenty foot fall when he landed on his belly. Gerhard Steiner, 27, slipped and fell from a balcony in Bayreuth onto the pavement below. However, doctors said the 21-stone man came away from the fall with just a bruised rib because the fat around his belly had cushioned the impact when he hit the ground.

4. The Heroic Overweight Bus Driver Who Acted as a Human Shield and Survived

In 2012, a heroic, but heavy, bus driver named Alegria Campos, 33, threw himself at a gunman in Santiago, Chile. The bad guy shot him, but Alegria's pot belly caught the bullet, preventing any serious damage. In a report on the incident, doctors who treated him said that a skinny person would have been killed instantly.

Alegria was driving his bus in the San Bernardo area of Santiago when an armed man got on and started robbing passengers. He stopped the bus and switched on his emergency lights to alert the police. He then tried to grab the man's weapon. The attacker fired twice. The first bullet smashed the windscreen but the second lodged in the bus driver's stomach.

Despite the wound, Alegria managed to throw himself on top of the robber, stopping him from escaping. A passing police patrol arrested the 29-year-old attacker. They also took Alegria to El Pino Hospital, where doctors extracted the bullet and sewed up the wound.

So, the next time anyone tells you that you're getting fat, just look deeply shocked and reply, “It's my bullet-proof protective layer. You don't have one?!”

5. The 400-Pound Woman Who Fell Through a NYC Sidewalk and Survived Because She was Overweight

A 400-pound woman who fell through a New York sidewalk claims that her size actually came to her rescue and that a slimmer woman may not have survived the accident. Ulanda Williams, 32, of Queens was attempting to take shelter from the rain outside a restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side when the ground collapsed beneath her. The six-foot-five woman fell about seven feet into a hollow basement, breaking her arm in two places. She had to be rescued by the fire department with a crane.

But after being released from the hospital, a bruised Williams said, "Thank God, they said that my size was the only thing that saved me."

City Department of Buildings inspectors found that a four-by-six-foot section of sidewalk had collapsed into the basement. Williams ended up in the deep cellar of the Atomic Wings restaurant on the corner of East 60th Street and 2nd Avenue. Emergency Medical Services and the Fire Department were called to the scene, and the woman was eventually pulled out of the hole.

6. The Inmate Who was Spared from Execution for Being Too Fat

Ronald Post was a 450-pound inmate who argued he was too fat to be put to death. He eventually died of natural causes in an Ohio prison hospital, where he'd been treated on-and-off since 2011.

His obesity became an issue when Post argued in federal court that executing him would amount to cruel and unusual punishment because it would take a long time for a prison official to find a muscle for the lethal injection to be administered. His death came seven months after he was granted clemency by the governor. His case drew national attention because of his weight.

NOTE: Republican Gov. John Kasich granted Post clemency citing poor legal representation, not his weight.

7. The Fat Man Who Survived Eight Bullet Wounds

A 460-pound Fitchburg man blasted by eight bullets from a state trooper's service revolver during a wild shootout and managed to survive. After Trooper Martin K. Stephens stopped and arrested a driver, he was hit once in the ankle when the shooting broke out.

Lawrence Bell, 24, was so fat that none of the bullets fired from Stephen's revolver did any vital damage. He was still conscious when police took him to the hospital.

Dr. Nicholas Nassar, the surgeon who operated on Bell, said he was lucky to be alive, and that his excessive weight may have saved him from death. According to the doctor, Bell is overly obese and the fat might have acted almost like a sandbag, so none of the bullets hit any major vital organ.

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