A man thought to be Britain’s fattest, Matthew Crawford who once weighed 55 stone has died at the age of 37, The Sun reported.
Crawford hit the headlines when he cost the NHS hundreds of thousands of pounds by blocking four hospital beds for 18 months.
Friends said he was back in hospital last week and died of sepsis and organ failure.
Lee Howe said on Facebook: “Rest in peace Matthew Crawford aka Fatkid.
“At peace with your dad now mate.”
Jamie Howe added: “I’m actually in shock. Rest in peace Matt, now your with your dad causing havoc up there just like you use to do.
“Guna miss you, buddy.”
Another friend said: “Omg sorry to hear this sad news Matt was a great lad. RIP Matt.”
Rangers and Lincoln City fan Matthew was believed to be one of the fattest people in the UK following the death of cabbie Barry Austin last year.
At his heaviest, he was over 55 stone when he was admitted to Kings Mill Hospital in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Notts, in 2018.
He ended up staying for a year and a half, sleeping in reinforced beds that cost the NHS £7,000 a week.
Despite being declared well enough to be discharged, he could not leave as there was no suitable social care available.
Matthew reportedly ordered pizzas and Chinese takeaways to the ward during his extended stay.
He even posed clutching a bottle of champagne in his hospital bed.
A source said at the time: “Everybody is sick to the back teeth with the situation.
“There’s nothing medically wrong with Matt now but we’re powerless to get rid of him.
“He is taking up much needed bed space supposed to be for ill patients.”
His mum Linda denied claims by staff that she ordered takeaways to be sent to him on the ward.
She said in October 2018: “He’s waiting to move (to a care home). They are just waiting for the equipment to be installed.”
The Sun told how Matt had previously bragged of splurging his unemployment benefits on a 65-inch TV, and £80-a-month Sky package and £100 football away days.
Before being admitted, he was prosecuted for assaulting four nurses at a care home where he was living.
The conviction was said to have made it harder to find him another placement, meaning he could not leave the hospital.
Matthew was finally discharged in December 2019 and was pictured raising his arms aloft while standing on a weighbridge.
He was reported to have joined Slimmers Worlds but it is not known if he had lost weight in the years since.
Birmingham cabbie Barry Austin held the title of Britain’s fattest man when he tipped the scales at 65th.
In later years he was bedbound and slimmed down through ill health. He died of a heart attack aged 52 last January.
The title was said to have passed to Jason Colton, who weighed 50st but slimmed to 45st.
Last year he begged for a gastric bypass operation after having to be winched out of his Surrey flat by crane.