Carol Yager

Carol Yager (1960-1994) holds the distinction of having been the most obese person ever to live. When she died in 1994 at the age of 33, she weighed 1279 pounds (662 kilograms). She is estimated to have weighed around 1400 pounds (725 kilograms) at her peak. At death, she was 5'11" tall, and, contrary to popular belief, still narrow enough to fit through her custom-built 48-inch wide front door.

Like others in the 900+ pound weight class, Carol was not able to stand or walk, as her muscles were not strong enough to lift her, having become atrophied from disuse. She was not always that large, and managed to remain mobile up until her last couple of years. Her more serious health problems began when she became bedridden. At the last point when she was able to stand she weighed 702 lbs.

After being diagnosed with a case of "Cat scratch fever," acquired from a young kitten she had, due to a weakened immune system, she was bedridden for two and a half months. Normally the disease is a relative minor illness, but given the state of her overall health and her weakened immune system, it had a devastating effect. After the disease had run it's course, she found herself still lacking the strength to get up again. It was during the next 18 months that her weight more than doubled, due mainly to Edema (water retention). She consumed the relatively "normal" amount of food during this time, but still managed to gain weight at an alarming rate. Part of the problem may have been because she was on Oxygen, which tends to dry the mouth and throat, causing her to take in a great deal too much fluid, given her condition.

Carol lived in the Beecher Metropolitan District, a low-rent neighborhood near Flint, Michigan, and was visited daily by a public health nurse who worked a couple hours a day, a full-time aide, a housekeeper, and was also cared for by her daughter Heather (15 years old), as well as numerous volunteers from among her long-time friends and family members. Also contrary to popular belief, she did not lose contact with her family members.

Carol claimed to have started her massive weight gain deliberately as a child to discourage the sexual attacks of a "close family member," but this claim is somewhat suspect, as she had become a victim of "False Memory Syndrome" as a result of intensive therapy to recover memories of childhood abuse. However, it is known that in the last several months of her life she was "remembering" a lot of things that never actually happened to her as she incorporated her family members and friends into the false memories, thinking that they had been present when the false memory "happened".

However, her claims of sexual abuse are somewhat more believable despite the "False Memory Syndrome," because the family member (now deceased) she accused has also been accused by two other family members for the same actions.

She also claimed to have once made love on a moving motorcycle, and to have engaged in other scandalous adventures. However, Carol was most likely playing a prank on the the many reporters who would line up to interview her. While a great many of her friends were hard-core outlaw bikers, Carol herself never actually rode one. There were times when she would tell some tale to one reporter and then, within minutes, completely contradict herself, telling just the opposite to the next reporter to interview her.

In 1993 her health began to fail; she was checked into Hurley Medical Center, suffering from cellulitis (her skin was breaking down due to the stress of holding in her mass). She stayed in the hospital for three months and was restricted to a 1200 calorie diet during that time. She lost almost 500 pounds (230 kg), though most of this was fluid as a result of the Edema.

Local volunteer firemen were called upon to carry Carol to the ambulance to get to the hospital, and into the nursing home where she lived after leaving. Her weigh-ins at the hospital necessitated use of a freight scale, which was normally used for weighing laundry.

When Carol died, she was surrounded by about 26 of her best friends and family members, who kept a constant vigil at her bedside. Carol was buried in a plot that was generously supplied by an anonymous donor, who also paid for the burial costs. She was buried without a coffin or vault, in a cemetery that doesn't require them.

The daughter, Heather, came to live with her uncle & family after the funeral where she remained until she was 17, at which time she went to live with a cousin. Today, she is happily married and raising her two small children as well as the daughter of another family member who is currently unable to care for her.

She was featured on several television shows (such as The Jerry Springer Show), and was the subject of exploitation from several dieting gurus (such as Richard Simmons), all of whom made many promises that were not kept. She also fell prey to a scam artist who took advantage of her False Memory Syndrome to insinuate himself into her life by causing her to "remember" that they had been lovers for 20 years. Carol was receiving dozens of cards and letters daily from well-wishers, many of which contained cash donations, and all of which were intercepted before her family received any of it. The local Post Office estimated about 100,000 individual pieces of mail in a six month period were delivered to Carol.

• List of the most obese humans

• Dimensions Magazine, people known to have weighed more than 900 pounds
• Bizarre magazine 64, p. 81