My 600-Lb. Life’s Sean Milliken passes away at 29

My 600-Lb. Life star Sean Milliken, who was known as the reality TV series’ heaviest subject, has died days after being hospitalized.

Milliken was admitted to the hospital some time before ultimately passing away on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2019, according to a Facebook post by his father, Matt, as reported by Radar Online on Feb. 19. Apparently, Milliken’s death was the unfortunate result of complications stemming from an infection. In his post, Matt told followers, “Sean was admitted into the hospital a couple days prior, because of an infection,” adding, “Sunday he was having problems with his breathing, they were able to resuscitate him and a short time later his heart stopped.”

Calling his son as a “good man,” Matt added that his kid also had a “good heart.”

Radar Online noted that Milliken had been living alone in an apartment in Texas. He was just 29 years old.

As summarized by Us Weekly, Milliken suffered a “debilitating leg injury” while in his senior year of high school, resulting in him becoming bedridden. Presumably because of this, he gained weight, hitting the scales at at least 400 pounds. However, according to the Daily Mail, Milliken had “struggled with his weight since childhood,” particularly after his mother and father divorced, and he would eat to find comfort.

In 2016, he made an appearance on the TLC show My 600-Lb. Life. At the time, Milliken was reportedly the heaviest person to ever be on the show, weighing in at 900 pounds, according to Radar Online. He was only on one episode on the fourth season of the series (via Hollywood Life), and, during the program, revealed that he couldn’t remain standing for over 30 seconds. “Every day I wake up I have to face the reality of what my life has become. I am so big now; I can hardly move,” he said on the show (via the Daily Mail), stating, “I can get up, but I can only walk a few steps, so I just stay here in this bed no matter what.”

After his time on the series, he reportedly relocated to Houston, Texas from Cameron Park, Calif. in an effort to “qualify” for a weight loss surgery. Regarding the then-future move, Milliken admitted to the My 600-Lb. Life cameras that he was “not 100 percent certain this is the right decision to make.” Describing himself as “extremely nervous,” he explained, “It’s going to take anywhere from 30 to 40 hours to drive there. I’m very worried about that. If I fall, we won’t be near the hospital for people to pick me up.”

Despite her own worries about her son’s big life decision, Milliken’s mother, who has since passed away, believed he was doing what was best. “He needs to experience life,” she stated. “That’s what I hope comes out of all this.” As noted by TMZ, it’s not publicly known if Milliken ever did have the weight loss surgery for which he’d moved.

Speaking to Radar Online, Milliken’s friend Ashley Boone shared that he would forever be thought of as a “special guy.” She shared, “He was definitely a loner and kept to himself but once you knew him he opened up and showed his witty side,” adding, “He was extremely funny, artistic and kind.”

To Radar Online, Boone also opened up about Milliken’s health, revealing that he was greatly affected by his mother’s death. “I think it changed him because he had to become independent which he’d never been before,” she explained, noting that he’d been in a wheelchair. She added that Milliken depended on social security checks to pay for his living arrangements.

As noted by the Daily Mail, Milliken’s mother once told My 600-Lb. Life that her son needed to be “taken care of from head to toe.” Because of his inability to care for himself and to get his weight under control, Milliken said on My 600-Lb. Life that he worried he wouldn’t be able to live past 30 years old. “All I want is out, and I never really thought my life would end up like this,” he said.

In his Facebook post announcing Milliken’s passing, his father, Matt, said that his son “lost the battle” he’d been fighting with his weight, but “is now free to be with his mom, Renee M. Milliken” (via Radar Online).

He went on, “They are both at peace now; in my mind a lot better place without the struggles we have with our bodies on earth!”

Our thoughts are with Sean Milliken’s loved ones during this difficult time.