For the Love of His Kids: Father Achieves Amazing Weight Loss, Stronger Heart
For the Love of His Kids: Father Achieves Amazing Weight Loss, Stronger Heart
With Father’s Day just behind us, it seems fitting to share a story about a man whose love for his kids inspired a dramatic, 225-pound weight loss.
George Sparrow Jr. (pictured right) weighed more than 400 pounds when he began to lose weight. He struggled to catch his breath after a short walk to his car, up a flight of stairs, or just chasing his young son in the yard.
He was plagued by congestive heart failure, obesity, diabetes and hypertension. Doctors’ diagnoses painted a grim picture: Though he needed a heart transplant, or an artificial pump, he couldn’t be a candidate for either until he lost weight.
But the real motivation to change came not from daunting diagnoses, but from deep within his failing heart: Mr. Sparrow’s unending love for his two children. The 422-pound father vowed to get healthy, saying “I have to be here to raise my children. I have to do whatever it takes to be here for them.”
After a regimen of daily exercise, nutritional counseling and gastric bypass surgery, the Lyons man lost more than 225 pounds. What’s more, his diabetes and hypertension have faded, his heart function has since normalized, and he was able to avoid serious surgery.
Perhaps most importantly, he has more energy than he can ever remember – and he needs every bit of it, as the father of a 14-year-old daughter and an energetic 8-year-old son.
“We’re doing more together than we ever did before and it’s great,” the devoted dad said. “I had to do whatever I could to get better and live, for my children. So I changed my life.”
Hear more of Mr. Sparrow’s inspiring story, watch the clip below.
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* The above story is adapted from materials provided by University of Rochester Medical Center
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