UK Newlyweds Stephen Beer and Michelle Coombe weigh in at over a whopping 700 pounds combined. The couple receives a comfortable sum of around $2500 a month in welfare benefits. In addition to that, the UK government also takes care of the rent on their one-bedroom apartment. A helper assigned to them comes by free of charge twice daily to help Beer with routine tasks like personal hygiene and getting dressed for the day and for bed. That expense alone is $12,000 annually, or a grand each month.
The public expense has also provided Beer with a specialized, reinforced mobility scooter. Beer claims he would rather be working than living on the government’s dime but that he doesn’t have the option. He claims no one will hire him due to his weight. Beginning the process to lose weight may cost him his benefits, leaving him with no job and no one taking care of his finance for him either.
Beer claims to have a psychological addiction to food that he wants to overcome by enrolling in a weight loss boot camp over the summer holidays. His multiple health issues mean he has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, which is often caused by obesity and is more likely to be developed by those with lifestyle risks such as poor diet and lack of exercise.
He also has hypertension and other health issues brought on by the complications of weight over 400 pounds. Not longer after his wedding, he was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, which is a blood clot in the lungs that can travel through the blood vessels and become lodged in the brain, where it can cause a fatal stroke. To prevent this complication, he spent 9 days in the hospital.
Wife Michelle was not surprised their honeymoon was spent in the hospital as Beer can only stand up a few minutes before losing breath. She has also never been employed as an adult and stated, “I reckon Stephen will be on benefits for most of his life.”
It wasn’t always this way. Beer was not only employed previously but used to be a manager at a cleaning business but was forced to stop working after he already had a stroke six years ago, when he was only in his 30’s.
When he was asked if he feels guilty about collecting such a considerable sum in benefits each year he responded, “Is it right? Of course not. But at the end of the day, I did work. I have worked, I haven’t sat on my a*** all the time. I have done some work and so really, why not?”
Source: Mail Online
Photo: The Sun/Channel 5
