Weight Watcher Wonder

A man who once weighed more than 1,000 pounds is nearly half his size after seven months in a hospital, where he was put on a strict diet and underwent gastric bypass surgery. Patrick Deuel weighed 1,072 pounds — nearly half a ton — when he checked into Avera McKennan Hospital in June. At the time, he was dying of heart failure.

He has lost 457 pounds; just 41 pounds of the weight loss happened after the gastric-bypass surgery that he had in October. Before the surgery, he was losing weight on an exercise program and a 1,200-calorie-a-day diet. "I was actually losing weight faster before the surgery," he said Tuesday. The weight loss has helped control his heart problems and other health issues, including diabetes.

Deuel tried many diets during his youth and early adult life, but the pounds were slow to melt off. He'd get discouraged, take comfort in old routines and return to overeating. By the mid-1990s, he stopped leaving his house and ended up housebound for seven years. For several months last year, he couldn't leave his bed and depended on his wife, Edith, to clean and care for him.

Deuel now wears suspenders to hold up pants that are too big. He said he eventually would like to weigh about 240 pounds. By the way, the man in the picture is not particularly Deuel. If it is Deuel, it's a great coincidence.