There’s no easy way towards a healthier life for morbid obesity patients, as we have gotten to learn thanks to “My 600-lb Life”. In the case of season one’s participant Henry Foots, his willpower led him to lose a massive amount of weight, achieving one of the most unforgettable and drastic transformations ever seen in the show.

Losing 500lbs isn’t easy, but that makes Henry’s journey all the more impressive. Nevertheless, his story had a sad end when he suddenly died just one year after appearing in the show, leaving his fans with lots of questions about his life and heartbreak over the bright future he was so intent on working towards.

Keep watching to find out more about Henry Foots, his weight loss journey, other details about his life, and his unfortunate passing.

Henry’s Journey

Henry Foots was by far the heaviest and oldest patient featured in the first season of “My 600-lb Life”. At the time his episode aired in early 2012, he was 47 years old and weighed around 715 lbs, and his life was very complicated. Besides having issues with his limited mobility, Henry suffered from constant pain, and was increasingly worried about losing his life to obesity-related complications.

Following his bariatric surgery, Henry was on the mission to lose over 500lbs with the guidance of Dr. Now, though it would take him around three years to get there. Nevertheless, Henry’s progress seemed to be going greater than expected, as he’d already lost more than 80lbs only one month after the surgery and set himself the goal of walking without a walker, for which he signed up at a local gym, hoping to make his path to success easier.

While Henry experienced a setback during his first post-surgery year due to his father sadly passing away from liver cancer, he continued fighting for a new chance at life, and eventually got to a point where he could work on his own.

The Results

Henry’s journey wasn’t easy, as he’d faced a lot of difficulties along the way. By the time he started the second year of recovery, his progress had slightly stagnated due to his depression.

The most pressing issue Henry faced at the time was his finances, as he had no option but to take driving jobs at a lower level than he’d had before starting his journey. Despite showing himself happily driving a public transportation bus in the show, that job didn’t last long, and he resumed his unhealthy eating habits as an emotional response.

By the time Henry reached his third year after surgery, he’d undergone skin removal surgery which not only made him lose more weight but also improved his mobility a lot. His fourth year after bariatric surgery saw him undergoing a second skin-removal operation, but experienced some serious, near-death complications which led him to the operating table twice in a couple of days.

Fortunately, Henry recovered well and went to a check-up during his sixth year after bariatric surgery. It was then that Dr. Now revealed that Henry had lost almost 500lbs since 2005, weighing around 275 in 2011. Henry also passed from having two-to-three years of life expectancy to having an average span.

Life Post-Show

Unfortunately, Henry experienced some serious issues following the end of his weight loss journey. By 2012, Henry had been working as a shuttle bus driver for some time when being involved in a crash which sadly resulted in a fatality.

As reported by local Houston news sites, Henry passed out while driving the bus, resulting in a crash despite a passenger’s efforts to recover control of the vehicle. Sadly, the bus fatally hit a 43-year-old pedestrian and injured several passengers, though it’s unclear whether Henry’s health issues were related to his weight or not.

TLC's medical reality show "My 600-lb Life" has helped dozens of people reclaim their lives and bodies. Here's what really happened to Henry Foots. https://t.co/6tUl0jWtOe

— Looper (@looper) October 17, 2024

While Henry survived the crash, there are no clear reports about his health status since the accident. Unfortunately, Henry passed away on 16 May 2013 at 54 years of age, but there’s no known cause of death.

According to a 2020 report by the YouTuber Lamont At Large, Henry is buried at a local Houston cemetery, but has no headstone, though the reason his family decided to forgo to give him a grave marker is unknown. Nevertheless, Henry is warmly remembered by fans of “My 600-lb Life”, who often discuss how impactful his life journey was in the show.

What Happened To His Wife?

Those who followed Henry Foots’ story surely remember that at the end of his episode, he happily married his long-time girlfriend Lycurgus Walker, also known as Kirk.

The story of Henry and Kirk started a long time before he began his weight loss journey. They’d met while working together, and eventually started a relationship which led them to share 13 years under the same roof, but as both Kirk and Henry revealed in “My 600-lb Life”, they separated at some point because they couldn’t stand living together anymore.

Despite their split, Kirk and Henry kept in contact and didn’t forget about their love for each other. They eventually got back together, with Kirk not only accompanying Henry during some of the toughest parts of his weight loss journey, but also undergoing bariatric surgery herself to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

Kirk and Henry tied the knot in a private ceremony in 2011, at a time when he was already at his desired weight, and she was noticeably slimmer than before.

While not much has been revealed about Kirk outside of what we saw in the show, it’s known that she sadly passed away in December 2021, when 71 years old.

In the end, Henry’s story leaves us with a bittersweet feeling, but if there’s something we’ve learned from his journey, it’s how positive and strong-willed he was, even during the toughest times.