When Dawid and Rose-Mari Lombard took their vows to stay together ‘until death do us part’, they likely never imagined they were eating their way to an early demise—risking leaving their young son behind as an orphan in just a few short years.

Residing in Winnie Mandela (formerly known as Brandfort) in South Africa’s Free State, the husband and wife had a daily habit of devouring an entire loaf of bread each. They would wash this down, along with endless amounts of junk food, using a staggering 12 litres of regular, full-sugar Coca-Cola.

Our daily fuel consisted of 12 litres of Coke and two full loaves of white bread, alongside massive quantities of junk food,” recalled 39-year-old Dawid. “We’d grab snacks from KFC en route to McDonald’s, and for late-night sugar cravings, we’d each polish off an entire bag of Quality Street chocolates.”

At their heaviest, the Lombards reached a massive combined weight of 440kg (nearly 70 stone). Unsurprisingly, they faced a barrage of severe medical complications, including high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

However, a harsh wake-up call arrived when they realized their 10-year-old son, Divan, was facing bullying at school due to his parents’ massive size. Even worse, the boy was tragically heading down the exact same path toward morbid obesity. This realization prompted the couple to take radical action, eventually dropping a staggering combined total of 40 stone.

“At just 10 years old, Divan had to squeeze into under-16 rugby shirts,” Dawid shared. “It breaks my heart to say it, but seeing him exactly where I was at his age made me desperate to give him a better future.”

Following a complete household ban on junk food and sugar, young Divan has also experienced remarkable health benefits, dropping 10kg (about 22lbs, or roughly 1.5 stone).

Prior to this monumental lifestyle shift, Dawid tipped the scales at nearly 300kg (about 47 stone)—more than double the weight of his wife. Medical professionals grimly cautioned him that he wouldn’t live to see his 40th birthday. His immense size forced him to quit his job as a farm machinery sales agent and severely restricted his daily movements.

Dawid battled severe inflammation, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and sleep apnoea—a dangerous condition where excess neck weight causes breathing to stop during sleep. “I went to sleep terrified it might be my last night,” he confessed.

Heavily reliant on his family for even basic needs due to his lack of mobility, Dawid noticed that Divan practically “half-avoided” him.

Rose-Mari, who weighed 140kg (over 22 stone), shared many of the same debilitating ailments as her husband. “People acted friendly to our faces, but we knew there were so many who gossiped about us behind our backs,” she reflected

The turning point finally arrived in September 2024, when the couple decided they could not live like this anymore.

 

 

Desperate, Rose-Mari penned a letter pleading for assistance from Dr Smook & Partners, a Bloemfontein-based medical clinic specializing in weight management. Under the guidance of their medical team, Dawid and Rose-Mari began to shed the lethal kilos.

Looking back on his early mindset, Dawid admitted, “Initially, I was just furious about the whole process. I was mad at the endless failed diets, at the relatives who had begged me to change, at the doctors warning me about my death, and even furious at sugar itself!”