A Romanian man has been nicknamed 'Shar Pei Man' because of his folds of loose skin – after losing an incredible 300lbs on a diet.
Marius Stoicas now weighs in at less than 14 stone – less than half the man he used to be as a 35 stone bodyguard.
And the dramatic weight loss has left him with rolls of excess skin cascading down his body, like the saggy skinned Shar Pei dog.
At his heaviest, when he topped the scales at an astonishing 500lbs, Mr Stoicas could not even tie his own shoelaces.
"Sometimes I'd get work as a bouncer, and all I needed to do was stand in the doorway to keep people out, they couldn't budge me," he said.
Stoicas, 34, from Bucharest, now needs an operation to remove the masses of hanging skin which have earned him his nickname.
But even though he finds it hard to look at himself in the mirror, he says he feels like a new man and owes everything to the doctor who put him on the crash diet.
"I was reborn. From 500 to 190 pounds. I could not run, I needed help to put my shoes on," he said.
"But I will have to scrape together 5,000 EUR (£4,000) before I can have the skin removed."
The operation will be carried out by plastic surgeon Cristian Radu Jecan who says he is already plotting the op which will involve removing up to 20 percent of his skin.
Outrage Over Plan To Hold Secret Terror Trial
Civil rights activists have expressed concern over the first ever court order allowing two terror suspects, arrested in "high-profile circumstances", to be tried anonymously and in secret.
Justice Nicol at the Old Bailey gave the green light for the defendants to be tried in secret last month.
However, the order came to light only on Wednesday when it was revealed that a number of media organisations, including Sky News, had challenged the issue at the Court of Appeal.
James Welch, Legal Director of civil rights group Liberty, told Sky News: "Open justice is a fundamentally important principle.
"It is completely necessary that the public have at least some idea what people are being tried for in the courts."
He said: "We do not ‘disappear’ people in this country."
The two defendants, who can be identified only as AB and CB, were reportedly arrested in "high-profile circumstances."
AB is charged with preparing terrorist acts and is jointly charged with CD on possessing bomb-making instructions.
CD is also charged with possessing an illegal UK passport.
The legal counsel representing the media said it was the first time an order has been obtained to conduct a trial of this kind entirely in private, with the identity of both defendants withheld and a permanent prohibition on reporting what takes place.
Counsel Anthony Hudson said the issue required the "most anxious scrutiny" by the Court of Appeal.
"We submit that the orders made mark such a significant departure from the principle of open justice that they are inconsistent with the rule of law and democratic accountability.
"This case is a test of the court's commitment to that constitutional principle in the admittedly difficult and sensitive circumstances where the state seeks to have trials involving terrorism held in secret and relies, in support of that, on grounds of national security."
However, in an interview with the BBC's Today Programme, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling insisted he was "very confident" that the judges would act in the interest of justice should the trial go ahead.
He said: "Of course, the default in our justice system should be transparency. We shouldn't see situations where large amounts of process in our court system suddenly become secret.
"But the law does – and it's not just statute law, it's also the common law – allow very rare occasions where trials or parts of trials can take place in camera, in private. This is always a matter for the judges.
"In this particular case, if there is really good reason, if it is in the interests of justice for the judge to decide in one way or the other, so be it.
Court of Appeal Judges Lord Justice Gross, Justice Simon and Justice Burnett are due to give their decision on the appeal in the next few days.
More babies diagnosed with blood poisoning
Three more babies have suffered blood poisoning from suspected contaminated hospital drips, health officials have revealed.
A spokesman for Public Health England said that so far, 18 infants have been taken ill with septicaemia at several hospitals across the UK.
One of them, a youngster who was being treated in intensive care at St Thomas' Hospital in central London, has died.
The cases are "strongly linked" to a batch of a liquid called parenteral nutrition, which was fed to the babies through intravenous drips.
It is usually produced under sterilised conditions to cut the risk of infections.
The PHE spokesman warned more cases may be reported in babies who developed an infection last week or over the weekend but added: "We're confident any remaining stock of this medicine is not being used in hospitals."
The medicine believed to be at the centre of the poisoning is made by ITH Pharma, a London-based drugs company.
Its managing director, Karen Hamling, said she was "deeply saddened" by the infant's death and the string of poisonings.
"There is no reason for patients, their families or healthcare professionals to be concerned," she said. "From investigations, it would appear the potential contamination is linked to a sourced, single, raw material ingredient."
She added: "I want to reassure people we're doing everything possible to help the regulators establish exactly what has happened."
As well as St Thomas', babies have fallen ill in neonatal intensive care units at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust, Whittington Hospital, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, CUH Addenbrookes and Luton and Dunstable University Hospital.
The three new cases are at Southend University Hospital, Peterborough City Hospital and Basildon University Hospital. Infected batches have been identified at a total of 22 hospitals, a mix of private and NHS.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency issued a Class 1 Drug Alert over the suspected batch of contaminated liquid.
It is the most critical warning and requires an immediate recall. Sky's Health Correspondent Thomas Moore said premature and seriously sick children were particularly vulnerable to infections.
Post published in: World News