Mother arrested for "medical neglect" of 555-pound son

[Aragorn]

Complete CNN article with picture of 555-pound son, plus video report


(CNN) -- South Carolina authorities have located a 555-pound teenager and his mother, who faces a charge of violating a custody order, police said Thursday.

Alexander Deundray Draper, 14, "is possibly at a stage of critical health risk," social services said.

Alexander Deundray Draper, 14, of Travelers Rest, South Carolina, and his mother, Jerri Althea Gray, were located at about 4:30 p.m. near a laundromat in Baltimore, Maryland, by the Baltimore County Sheriff's Office, said Matt Armstrong, a spokesman for the Greenville County Sheriff's Office in Greenville, South Carolina.

.....

"The understanding was that the individual was of the weight where it was decided by medical authorities that he needed treatment that was not being provided for by his mother," Armstrong said.

.....

The warrant said Gray was served with papers Monday and told to report to court for a hearing in which the department would seek state custody of Draper. "The defendant has avoided the custody proceeding and has concealed the child," the warrant says.

.....

 

[SPOCKED]

Any thoughts on this topic, Aragorn?

 

[auntiehill]

HOLY CRAP.

555 at age 14? What the hell? That poor kid. I'm surprised he's still alive.

 

[B.J.]

The defendant.... has concealed the child.

Er, HOW?!?

 

[Mallory]

The defendant.... has concealed the child.

Er, HOW?!?

By sitting in various fast food restaurants.

 

[tharpdevenport]

If she bought the food and sat there while he ate it, watching him gain that weight over time, maybe a charge of Involuntary manslaughter or what not, should be brought against the mother if her son has a heart attack and dies.

 

[Holdfast]

The defendant.... has concealed the child.

Er, HOW?!?

I lol'ed.

 

[BigFoot]

The defendant.... has concealed the child.

Er, HOW?!?

She made him hide behind Rosie O'Donnell.

 

[Kommander]

When I was 17, I ate pretty much nothing but fast food, and drank six liters of Coke a day on average, and I only weighed 325lbs... How the fuck does someone get to be that much of a fat-ass? If I stayed in bed all the time, set up an IV for Coke and kept it constantly full, and force-fed myself 100 double cheeseburgers every day for a whole year, I'd probably be about 450...

And yeah, I stopped eating like that sometime when I was 18... I started drinking mostly ice water and ate fast food once a week at most... and was taking diet pills with ephedra, and I dropped to 195 in a little under a year. Then I started drinking pop again (although not nearly s much) when I was working at SubWay a few years ago and now I'm at 250.

 

[RoJoHen]

When I was 17, I ate pretty much nothing but fast food, and drank six liters of Coke a day on average, and I only weighed 325lbs... How the fuck does someone get to be that much of a fat-ass? If I stayed in bed all the time, set up an IV for Coke and kept it constantly full, and force-fed myself 100 double cheeseburgers every day for a whole year, I'd probably be about 450...

And yeah, I stopped eating like that sometime when I was 18... I started drinking mostly ice water and ate fast food once a week at most... and was taking diet pills with ephedra, and I dropped to 195 in a little under a year. Then I started drinking pop again (although not nearly s much) when I was working at SubWay a few years ago and now I'm at 250.

Different people have different metabolisms.

I am always blown away when people get this big. I don't understand how people let it happen.

 

[sidious618]

Alexander Deundray Draper, 14, "is possibly at a stage of critical health risk," social services said.

Possibly?

 

[Rii]

I am always blown away when people get this big.

It doesn't usually happen quite that fast.

 

[Da'an]

I am always blown away when people get this big.

It doesn't usually happen quite that fast.

Exactly! It's not like there was no warning.

You'd have thought by the time he got to 300-350 or so, they'd consider that a good place to try to keep a constant weight level at instead of letting it get even higher.

 

[Gertch]

Normally I don't want the government anywhere near someone's child but this case is certainly different. Wasn't he getting yearly physicals by a doctor?

Is the mother mentally unstable or simply an enabler?

I sure hope this kid gets the physical and mental help he'll need.

 

[miraclefan]

Any thoughts on this topic, Aragorn?

You better state your opinion Aragorn! or SPOCKED is going to yank the thread! I should know...

 

[Aragorn]

B.J. took my joke, so there's nothing left for me to say.

 

[SPOCKED]

B.J. took my joke, so there's nothing left for me to say.

Fine.