‘My 600-lb Life’ star Coliesa McMillian dead at 41
Coliesa McMillian, the star of TLC’s show “My 600-lb Life,” has passed away. She was 41.
The mother of four died Tuesday at a Louisiana hospital, TMZ first reported. An exact cause of death has not yet been made public. Her funeral services will be held Thursday and Friday in Plaquemine, Louisiana.
“TLC is saddened to learn of the loss of Coliesa McMillian, who shared her story on ‘My 600lb Life.’ Our deepest condolences to her family at this difficult time,” TLC Network tweeted on Wednesday. When McMillian appeared on the eighth season of the show earlier this year, she weighed 643 pounds.
McMillian had a traumatic life. At 30, her husband was arrested and she found the strength to finally leave him, moving her family to Louisiana, where she met her fiancé, Melvin.
“It was almost like we instantly fell in love, you know, and me and my kids moved in with him, so life got better for awhile,” she said of meeting Melvin in a clip TLC posted in March.
But at 39, she had a heart attack, and doctors were unable to operate on her due to her size. “So they never fixed my heart,” she said.
Then, Melvin was killed in a car wreck.
“That devastated me, but I did what I had to do to get through it, and that was to eat so I didn’t fall apart,” she said.
She is survived by several siblings and her four daughters, who motivated her to go on the show.
“I’ve allowed food to waste my life. Just the hunger and the want and the crave. It’s taken over my life, and I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted of this life. Livin’ like this is not livin,’ ” she said in the clip. “I can feel the weight weighing me down. It’s like my body’s trying to give up. And I can feel it — but I can’t give up. I have to be here for my kids.”
She was aware that her obesity may one day prove fatal, admitting, “If I don’t lose this weight I’m going to die. I know I’m going to die. Because I do feel like a ticking time bomb. My heart could give out at any time.”
Source : Hannah Frishberg Link
