Man loses an astonishing 390 lbs after wake up call from stranger
On "The Meredith Vieira Show" Tuesday, a man named Brian Flemming was highlighted after he lost an incredible 390 pounds.
"By college my weight was so out of control that I quit school and lost my job," Brian explained. "I was 30 years old and a staggering 625 lbs."
Flemming says he was drinking a fifth of vodka every night and consuming as many as 5,000 calories each day, most of which was fast food.
He began playing the game Draw Something and was randomly matched with a woman named Jackie Eastham who lived across the pond in London. The two became close, but she felt Flemming was letting his life slip away.
"She got me into eating healthy and got me into exercising," Brian told the Detrail Free Press. "She basically berated me. She told me I was throwing my life away and that there are other people out there who are fighting for their lives."
Eventually, Flemming learned his friend Jackie has myotonic muscular dystrophy.
According to Johns Hopkins University, it's a disorder that affects the body's muscles. Symptoms include muscle weakness, difficulty releasing one's grip and arrhythmia.
Finally, Flemming decided he needed to turn his life around. He took Eastham's advice about eating healthy and exercising and even quit drinking altogether.
As he told Meredith Vieira, Flemming is now a size 38 waist. He was wearing a size 60 waist at his heaviest. Now, he's down to 325 lbs.
After losing the weight, Flemming flew to London in December to meet Eastham for the first time.
Together they vacationed in Paris, where they climbed the stairs in the Eiffel Tower.
After telling his story, Vieira revealed that she had a surprise up her sleeve: a reunion.
"I'm so incredibly proud to just have been a part of his journey and helped him turn into this wonderful human being that he is," Eastham said.
Curious about their status? Well, you'll have to keep wondering. The duo stayed mum about whether they're closer than friends.
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