In 2005, we brought you a story of a 700–pound man who was seeking help for a wheel chair, and with the help of the Department of Integrated Services for Individuals with disabilities his wish came true. Today, the same local man is looking for help to battle his weight problems.
35 year–old Yigo resident, Ricky Naputi is sitting idle at almost 900 pounds, with no place to go for help. When you're almost half a ton in weight, there are not many places you can go, whether it be for medical treatment, education or entertainment. Ricky Naputi has always been a big person, back when he was 17 and even today at 35.
While he used to take the public transportation system to get to and from appointments, he stopped because he can only be in a fixed position for a short period of time. This has resulted in one of his biggest battles, other than losing weight, to get to the doctor.
"They don't have a doctor to come and see you if they need it, you have to plead with somebody to do it," Naputi said. At a young age, Ricky would turn to food when he suffered from depression saying it made his troubles go away. He later learned it was only a temporary fix and he'd once again turn to food to drown his sorrows.
"I practically locked myself in my house, I didn't get out for years, I just stayed in and all I did was eat," he said. Over the years he's tried diet after diet with no results.
Ricky thinks the only solution is gastric bypass surgery, which is not covered under Medicaid.
A gastric bypass divides the stomach into a small upper pouch and a much larger, lower or "remnant" pouch, then re–arranges the small intestine to allow both pouches to stay connected to it, resulting in dramatic weight loss.
Ricky says there's a 50% chance things could go wrong if he were to have the surgery, but the other 50% chance of everything going right is a chance he's willing to take for his family and himself.
"If somebody can help me, I really want, I want my life back. I want to be able to get up walk outside and feel the sun without my wheel chair, either that or at least get into a vehicle and go around go somewhere with my wife and kids, go to the beach, I haven't touched the water in a long time," Naputi said.
He's hoping someone in our community will be able to lend a helping hand to give him a fighting chance for the future.
chamorrocali says ...
On Wednesday, Sep 3 at 9:07 PM
Things are possible. Put your mind to it, and you can do it. Prayers to you "Ricky", I hope that you can get the help that you need. Don't give up, keep trying, there is hope for you, and you took a giant step in exposing yourself. God Bless U.