Britain’s fattest man weighing 55 stones dies at age 37: Friends pay tribute to ‘big boy’ who ‘died of sepsis and organ failure’ after returning to hospital
A man who is arguably the most overweight in Britain died tragically at the age of 37 from organ failure and sepsis after being admitted to hospital.
Matthew Crawford weighed 55 stones at his heaviest and has made headlines over the past few years after taking up four hospital beds in the NHS for 18 months due to a lack of social care at home.
Friends paid tribute online to him as a ‘big boy’ who is ‘now with his father’.
Nicknamed ‘Fatkid’, his friends recalled their time with Mr. Crawford in bygone years, with one writing: ‘Harder news I have not seen him in years. Much younger than us If I remember correctly. TEAR.’
The Lincoln City supporter died last week at the age of 37, according to friends on social media. Tributes stormed in ‘big boy’ from friends and family shocked by his sudden death
Another one wrote: I’m actually in shock, rest in peace matt now you and your father are wreaking havoc up there just like you always do. Guna [sic] miss your partner. ‘
A third friend said, “Sorry to hear this sad news Matt was a wonderful boy.”
He was admitted to King’s Mill Hospital in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, in May 2018 and is thought to have cost the NHS up to £ 7,000 a week during his long stay.
For much of that time, he was declared medically fit to leave, but could not be discharged due to a lack of appropriate social care available.
An NHS source told The Mirror at the time: ‘Everyone is sick of the back teeth with the situation and it’s time for it to be exposed.
“There is nothing medically wrong with Matt right now, but we are powerless to get rid of him.”
Mr Crawford was admitted to hospital with sepsis in May 2018, and remained for 18 months despite being medically fit enough to leave due to a lack of social care space for him
He was known for posting photos of himself after leaving the hospital and being moved to a ‘more appropriate environment’.
“There’s room for four people to be in the hall who are being picked up by one guy who does not.”
Mr Crawford also had to be moved to a separate area of the hospital after staff learned he had a previous conviction for the attack on four nurses at a care home where he lived.
But his mother Linda denied reports circulating in the media at the time that he regularly ordered takeaways from his hospital bed.
A year later, he was finally able to move to a more ‘appropriate’ environment in December 2019.
A spokesman for Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust said at the time: ‘Although we are unable to comment on the care of individual patients for reasons of confidentiality, we can confirm that Mr Crawford is no longer in the care of Sherwood Forest Hospitals are not.
He took up the space of four NHS beds and had to move units due to a previous conviction for assaulting nurses in a nursing home
During his long stay in 2018, Mr Crawford even shared images on social media of him drinking champagne from his hospital bed
“We are glad for all involved that he is now in a more appropriate environment.”
The Lincoln City supporter has previously used his social media platforms to repel critics and respond to allegations that he uses his benefits to order takeaways from his hospital bed.
He wrote, “If you all knew the truth, you would think differently.”
After his release, he was believed to have joined Slimming World, but it is unclear if he has lost weight since this period in hospital.
Mr Crawford was apparently Britain’s fattest man at the time of his death after 52-year-old Barry Austin, a Birmingham taxi driver who previously held the title, died last January.