The TLC original reality series ‘My 600-lb Life’ follows a year in the lives of severe and morbidly obese people as they try and work to lose weight in order to live longer and healthier lives. They consult the highly skilled Dr. Younan Nowzaradan, AKA Dr. Now, in the show, who provides them with a personalized weight loss plan that includes a particular diet and exercise routine. Once they can reduce their weights to a recommended point, they may become eligible for necessary surgeries to speed up the weight reduction process.
Since its debut in 2012, the show has featured several patients with extremely varying conditions and backgrounds. The patients also possess differing degrees of improvement, making the task tougher for the medical team. One such patient was Sean Milliken, who appeared in season 4, episode 12, in 2016. Sean’s journey was one roller-coaster ride as his circumstances led him to a difficult journey. As fans might be curious to know what happened to him after that, here’s everything you need to know!
Sean Milliken’s My 600-lb Life Journey
Sean Milliken weighed a shocking 919 pounds when he joined the show in 2016. The then-26-year-old native of Cameron Park, California, had the highest weight on the show at the time of his appearance. His heavyweight prevented his legs from carrying his body, which also made him quite immobile, and he also needed oxygen for assisted breathing. He was totally bedridden, lived with his mother Renee, and depended on her and a family friend for all his needs. Thus, he wanted to take a chance at achieving his desired weight goal to become more independent and healthy.
Sean’s food addiction, like many others on the show, began during his childhood, because of his strained relationship with his father, Matt. Apart from his father being verbally abusive to him, and cornering and intimidating him as a child, Sean also saw his parents getting divorced when was 10 years old. This took a major toll on him as he blamed himself for his broken family. Thus, he turned to food for comfort and escape. Giving an idea into his psyche as a young boy, he said, “It was scary. So I would eat. And suddenly, I felt a lot better. In that moment, nothing else mattered.”
Sean also had an enabling mother who provided him with all the food to keep him happy, aiding him to weigh 400 pounds while he was just in high school. He faced another setback when a fall injured his leg and ankle in his senior year, further pushing him towards being bedbound. His mother, on the other hand, did not help by feeling sorry for him and providing him with more food, becoming his biggest enabler.
When Sean realized that his body, especially his skin, started giving up on him, he finally decided to move from California to Houston and start his weight loss journey with Dr. Now. Once he reached there, after looking at his weight and his swollen legs, the doctor gave him a target of losing 100 pounds in two months and recommended an 800-calorie-a-day diet plan. However, Sean could not follow the recommended diet at home and ended up gaining more weight, up to 1003 pounds, as suspected by the doctor.
Therefore, he was immediately hospitalized and made to follow the strict plan under medical surveillance. Miraculously, Sean managed to lose 259 pounds in two months and hence was discharged from the hospital. But, since living with his mother made him gain back the weight, both of them were sent to a psychotherapist, which immensely helped Sean to lose 367 pounds in 7 months. This helped him qualify for the gastric bypass surgery, which he got done with soon enough. His final weight at the end of the episode was reduced by 455 pounds, which made his weight 548 pounds.
Sean Milliken Passed Away From a Cardiac Arrest in 2019
Sadly, things did not look up for Sean even after his successful weight loss in the show. Although he was slowly making progress to lose weight, his mother became a huge barrier as their relationship became sour. With an unconscious intent of probably keeping him under her care, Renee kept creating hurdles in Sean’s weight loss process. Thus, he again ended up gaining some weight. Sean made a few back-and-forth visits to the hospital after that. Naturally, his weight kept fluctuating as well.
But, a huge tragedy struck Sean when his mother passed away in 2017 due to renal failure. He was devastated by the loss and said in the follow-up ‘Where Are They Now?’ episode, “A couple of months ago, my mom went to the hospital because she wasn’t feeling well. They said she had renal failure, and she didn’t make it. She passed away a couple of weeks ago, and I’m devastated, and I don’t know what to do now because my mom was everything to me.” Sean could deal with the loss of his mother and went back to overeating, leading him to more weight gain.
Another hurdle appeared in his life when Hurricane Harvey hit their place and he ended up losing all his home belongings. Sadly, he got even more depressed and lonely, depending on food for his only comfort. Following his weight gain and disappearance from all social media platforms, Sean tried to get back on the weight loss plan, but his weight kept fluctuating in huge amounts whenever he tried to live alone.
At one point, Sean gained up to 278 pounds, making his final weight 766 pounds. Thus, he was hospitalized again. Unfortunately, following numerous complications from an infection, Sean passed away due to cardiac arrest on February 17, 2019, at the age of 29. The news was announced by his father on his own Facebook profile, where he wrote, “Sunday he was having problems with his breathing, they were able to resuscitate him and a short time later his heart stopped.” The father also wrote that his son was a “good man” with a “good heart.”
Following his demise, TLC also paid tribute to Sean Milliken with an official statement and aired the latest episode of ‘Where Are They Now?’ wherein he was present. His death left everyone in shock since there were so many people rooting for his success. Sean Milliken is now remembered by many loving people, who saw him as the witty, funny, and kind person that he was.
Read More: Is My 600-lb Life Scripted or Real?
