He
reached a weight of 1,071lbs (486kg) and his chest measured 10ft
around.Robert Earl Hughes (June 4, 1926 – July 10, 1958) was an American
man who was, during his lifetime, the heaviest human being recorded,
weighing 1,071 lb (486 kg).
He remains the
heaviest human in the world able to walk without the need of
assistance.Robert Hughes was born in Monticello, Missouri, the son of
Abraham Guy Hughes (1878–1957) and Georgia Alice Weatharby (1906–1947).
He
was born "weighing a hefty but not abnormal" 11 lb 4 oz (5.1 kg) and
was a "fairly average-size baby until he contracted whooping cough at
about five months old."
The whooping cough was
believed to have played a role in his extraordinary weight gain. At age
six, he weighed 175 lb (79 kg); at ten, he weighed 380 lb (170 kg).
The family moved to Fishhook, Illinois, when Robert was six months old. He had two younger brothers.
During
his lifetime, he was the heaviest human on earth. Unlike most people of
great weight, he was not bed-bound, and he holds to this day the record
of the heaviest human to walk. Hughes's extreme weight was attributed
to a ruptured thyroid gland. He reached a peak weight of 1,071 lb (486
kg), with a chest measured at 10.3 ft (3.1 m).
Hughes
made some income from selling photographs of himself. During his adult
life, Hughes made guest appearances at carnivals and fairs.
At
age 27, he joined a traveling roadshow, often accompanied by some of
his family. Plans to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show variety television
program were announced but never materialized.
In
1957, traveling with his brother Guy and Guy's wife Lillian, Robert had
bookings throughout the country. Walking, even with his massive cane,
had started to be difficult for the 31-year-old.
Word
reached him at a carnival that his father had died at age 79. Guy and
Lillian returned to Illinois for the funeral, but Robert stayed on,
believing it was his duty to honour his commitments.
At
season's end, he returned to Guy's farm, unable to walk more than 20 ft
(6.1 m) without the assistance of family members, who would follow
closely, lugging a 5-foot- (1.5 meter-) wide, steel-reinforced chair in
case of exhaustion.
While travelling with the
roadshow in Nappanee, Indiana, Hughes developed a rash, and the flesh
under his fingernails turned blue.
Because he
was unable to be moved to the nearest hospital in Bremen, Indiana,
doctors treated him at his trailer, and determined he was suffering from
measles. He developed uremia.
He died on July
10, 1958, at the age of 32. He was buried in a small church cemetery in
Benville, Illinois,[6] in Brown County near his hometown, Fishhook.
About 2,000 people attended the funeral.
He is
erroneously said to have been buried in a piano case. This error stemmed
from a sentence that appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records: "
He
was buried in a coffin the size of a piano case." His headstone notes
that he was the world's heaviest man at a confirmed 1,041 lb (472 kg).
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