A man who appeared in the TLC reality television series "My 600-Lb Life" died at age 29.
Sean Milliken appeared on the show in 2016.
At the time, he weighed over 900 pounds.
"TLC viewers caught up with Sean this past summer and learned that despite the loss of his mother, he was still continuing in his quest to live a healthier and happier life," the network added. “TLC expresses its deepest sympathies to Sean’s friends and family at this difficult time.”
Sean Milliken's father Matt announced the death on Facebook after his son died on Feb. 17.
Milliken gained a lot of weight after suffering a debilitating leg injury during his senior year of high school but he already weighed at least 400 pounds before suffering the injury.
Renee, Milliken's mother, told People magazine that her and her husband's divorce was tough on their son, even though she believed it was ultimately for the best because of how Matt would yell at his son. Sean Milliken blamed the yelling for his obesity.
“I realized it wasn’t healthy for Sean to stay around his father,” Renee added. “But the divorce really had a hard effect on Sean, it really bothered him.”
After appearing on the show, Sean Milliken successfully dropped hundreds of pounds through weight loss surgery but his mother died in 2017 and he struggled to continue without her.
“A couple of months ago my mom went to the hospital because she wasn’t feeling well, and she just kept getting worse,” Sean said in an episode of "My 600-Lb Life: Where Are They Now?" from the summer of 2018. “They said she had renal failure, and she didn’t make it. She passed away a couple weeks ago and I’m devastated, and I don’t know what to do now because my mom was everything to me.”
Reactions
A number of people reacted to the deaths on social media."Sadly, some may laugh at the morbidly obese, but I find this situation incredibly sad," wrote Dan Nadeau, president of BidonTravel.com.