A Rhode Island man who weighs almost 800 pounds was kicked out of a hospital after ordering a pizza and is now being forced to live out of his father’s SUV. Steven Assanti, 33, from Cranston, was getting the help he desperately needed to combat his ‘eating addiction’ at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence.
Over the past few months there, he had managed to lose 20 pounds. But when he broke the rules of his care plan by ordering the takeout meal, Assanti – who weighs 778 pounds – was told he could no longer stay.
He told NBC10: ‘It’s an addiction and I realize that. And it’s a disease.’
Assanti explained that he was supposed to remain at the hospital until his weight dropped to 550 pounds, at which point he could undergo gastric bypass surgery.
His father Steven Veilette said he can’t take his son home – but has no idea what to do.
‘I just don’t know who to turn to,’ he told NBC10. ‘I called everybody, everybody you can think of in the state of Rhode Island and nobody seems to be able to help me.’
He added that even if he was able to get his son up the stairs of his home, it would almost certainly mean returning to his previous eating pattern.
Veilette managed to get his son into the back of his SUV and vows to keep driving until he finds a permanent solution.
He took his son to the ER at Kent Hospital, but they were not permitted to spend the night.
A social worker at the hospital told the pair that a facility in North Attleborough may be able to help, which Veilette said they intend to visit.
Following coverage in the media of his plight, Assanti took to his Facebook page to thank his supporters.
In a video posted online yesterday, he said: ‘Hopefully, in the near future there will be a positive follow-up with my weight loss.
‘I would like to thank all my supporters as well on my Facebook page and also to all the negative comments that give me a thicker skin.’
Rhode Island Hospital declined to comment when approached by Daily Mail Online.
