Half-tonne man gets married... after being taken to the wedding in a custom-made truck

The world's heaviest male - known as Half-Tonne Man - has got married, after being taken to the ceremony in his custom-made bed on the back of a flatbed truck.

Mexican Manuel Uribe, 43, wore a white satin shirt and had a sheet wrapped round his legs as he wed his longtime girlfriend, Claudia Solis, in front of 400 guests in a civil ceremony in Monterrey, northern Mexico.
The bed - which Uribe hasn't left in six years - was decorated with a canopy, flowers and gold-trimmed bows.

Two police patrol cars escorted him ahead of a long line of traffic.

Uribe tipped the scales in 2006 at 1,230 pounds (560 kilograms), earning him the Guinness Book of World Records' title for the world's heaviest man.

He has since shed about 550 pounds (250 kilograms) with the help of Claudia, whom he met four years ago.
He said: 'I am proof that you can find love in any circumstances. It's all a question of faith. All I want is to be happy and to love and be loved. And today is a very special day because of that.'

It took an hour to take Uribe to the ceremony 10 miles away with the efforts of over ten men with two tow-trucks - one a spare - and a police escort at hand. All the time Uribe waving to well-wishers and the many journalists and photographers present.
When he arrived at the wedding venue, Club de Leones, it took 20 minutes to lower the tow-truck's ramp over the hall's steps and then rotate his bed before pushing it through the venue's large front doors.

The bride was mobbed by more than 30 photographers when she arrived half an hour later in a black jeep.
Happy: Claudia Solis arrives for her wedding

Happy: Claudia Solis arrives for her wedding

She said: 'I'm not nervous. I'm just very happy. It's a very special day for us. We are marrying because we are in love.'

The couple met four years ago when Claudia, 38, visited to tell him that her then-husband, a school friend of Manuel's, had died - due to complications from being morbidly obese.

They grew closer due to their dedication to Christianity and eventually started a romantic relationship, including sex, they say.

After the wedding ceremony there was a huge banquet with three huge cakes - which the groom vowed not to eat, as he is still dieting, in the hope that he will shed enough weight that he can walk again.

The main dish was a chicken with vegetables. Uribe said: 'It is a heavyweight wedding, but low in calories.'

The whole thing was arranged in less than a month when the couple decided they could not wait to wed. Friends, local politicians and sponsors donated money to help pay.

Pictured: Man mountain lifts a third of a ton weight - HIMSELF

Weightlifting involves trying to raise a 50-stone weight - himself.

But without the exercise Manuel Uribe - once the world's fattest man at more than half a ton - won't even be able to get out of bed to get married.

Mr Uribe has lost fully 37 stone in two years of dieting on grapefruits, egg-white omelettes, fish, chicken and vegetables, but he's still too heavy to stand.

As he was carried outside to mark his 43rd birthday today, he said his one dream was to be able to stand for his upcoming wedding to girlfriend Claudia Solis, 38.

'It's so frustrating. My greatest wish is to stand when we wed,' he said.

It's only the third time he's left his home in Monterrey, northern Mexico, in the past six years.

Uribe is still unable to move his swollen legs and his dream is to walk again and visit the mountainous countryside around Monterrey.

But it's not all self-denial.

Presents of suckling pig and lamb arrived as Mr Uribe sat outside on his bed in a bedsheet, had a beer and waited for a cake.

'I'm happy that it is my birthday,' he said.

Mr Uribe spent the 1990s eating pizzas and burgers in the United States where he worked as a computer repairman.

His bulk won him a place in the 2008 edition of the Guinness World Records.

Defendant too fat to enter court

A suburban New York music shop owner accused of selling knockoff Gibson Les Paul guitars had to be arraigned in a pickup truck in a courthouse parking lot, after his lawyer said the 500lb defendant could not walk into the courthouse.

State Supreme Court Justice Robert Doyle said the man's 'severe weight problem', which prompted the unusual proceeding Thursday in Riverhead. A defense lawyer also had given the court a doctor's letter saying the defendant suffers from osteoarthritis.

The shopkeeper has been released without bail after pleading not guilty to trademark counterfeiting and criminal simulation. He says the case and health problems have forced him to close his store.

He is accused of selling bogus Gibsons for $1,500 (£760) to buyers who thought they were far more valuable genuine versions of the classic electric guitar.

The world's fattest man loses half his body weight - but still weighs almost 50 stone

The world's fattest man has shed half his body weight - losing a staggering 40 stone by going on a low-carb diet.

Manuel Uribe tipped the scales at a whopping 89.8 stone after a 14-year junk food binge.

The 42-year-old former mechanic, who has been bedridden for six years, stuffed his face with burgers, pizzas and fizzy drinks.

At his heaviest he suffered from lesions and sores on his legs which he bound up with duct tape to stop them from getting infected.

But he is now determined to get back to a healthy weight and after two years of intense dieting he has shed 40.7 stone.

His target weight is now 15.7 stone and his strict diet now consists of fish soup, one grapefruit, half an apple and 18 peanuts.

Manuel, who lives in Moterrey, Mexico, with his fiancée Claudia Solis Miranda and his mother Orilia, started dieting after a tearful TV appeal two years ago where he begged viewers to save his life.

Medical experts from Italy and Spain offered to carry out gastric bypass surgery on him - but he refused and instead accepted the help of US biochemist Dr Barry Sears, who prescribed the high-protein Zone Diet.

By last year he had slimmed down to 60 stone and celebrated by sipping champagne.

But despite spending 14 years gorging junk food, doctors believe Manuel's colossal weight is caused by a hormone imbalance.

One of his nutritionists, Alejandra Garcia, said: "It's about controlling his hormones. It is not some outlandish fad diet. It is simple common sense refined by science."

Manuel, whose story will be told on Extraordinary People: The World's Heaviest Man at 9pm on Five tonight, added: "I feel great. The doctors say I'm healthier than ever."

Before his diet, his usual breakfast would consist of four eggs, rice, beans and tortillas.

He said: "People think that I can eat a whole cow but it's not just overeating, it's also a hormonal problem."