The Passing of Pete Herida

[Guest guest]

To Herida's Family, Friends and the Whole WLS Community;

I just read on the OSSG list that Pete Herida has passed away. I want to

send my heartfelt condolences to his family and let you know that I share

your pain this evening. I had weight loss surgery 3.5 years ago after

learning of Pete's success. I weighed 685 pounds and was scared to death. He

told me all about the wonderful life waiting for me on the other side of

surgery. He told me all I had to do want to dump the weight that keeping me

from living. He seemed so kind and supportive and was my hero. Then I had my

surgery and wrote Pete several times as I struggled with many complications.

At that point I got to know the other Pete who I sometimes thought was such

a butt hole because when I was feeling terrible and was on the verge of

giving up, he cold and efficient. He never cut me any slack. I got out of

the hospital after being in 92 days with infection after infection and he

said your still alive, what do you have to complain about? I wanted someone

to feel a little sorry for me and that I had just been through hell and he

would tell me to get off that and get busy living.

I am sitting here tonight crying for a man who was a true warrior. I only

spoke to him one time on the phone but this was a man on a mission. He

didn't want one other person to die from obesity without knowing there was

an option for them.

The Bible talks about us being the salt of the earth and letting our light

shine. In this world of cookie-cutter molds where everyone wants to be like

everyone else, this man stood out as a beacon of light that added flavor to

every person he met. He was on a mission for God. The Word of God says that

the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy but Jesus comes to bring life and

bring life more abundant. The enemy had stolen too much life from Pete and

he liked that abundant life and wanted to pass it on. Pete gave strength

and guidance to thousands of people who will go on living because of him.

For those of us left behind, we will miss our tower of strength. Sometimes I

wouldn't write him for month because something he said irked me. But I

always knew there was someone I could turn to for information and

understanding. I just had to be too careful about whining too much about how

many holes I had in me. He would point out that I only died once on the

table while he been pronounced twice and so if anyone was going to be

complaining it was him. I picked on him for being short since I am 6' 3 " and

he picked on me for being a light weight at 685.

So I cry for a man whose wisdom I still need. I cry because congestive heart

failure is so treatable and it should not have taken him. I cry for his

family and the terrible loss they must feel tonight. To battle through so

much with him and finally see the bright days ahead and then lose him, is

just not fair. When some time has passed and we are all not hurting so

intensely, I want to do a movie about his life for Lifetime or cable TV. I

don't want any regular actor, just people from the WLS community. I want to

tell our story through Pete's life. His story should not fade away and I

know all the people to make this happen.

God Bless and know that you are in my thoughts and prayers

Davenport

___________________________

Update On Pete Herida's Passing

Copied from AMOS

I just wanted to let everyone know that I just got the word from

Herida's family that the cause of death was determined from the medical

examiner as

from Congestive Heart Failure.

<A

HREF= " http://obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=A1008255446 " >Lind

a Almonte</A>

__________________________

Notice On The Death of Pete Herida

This is the hardest post I have ever had to write. My good friend and an

amazing human being Herida (BigPete803) passed away yesterday. Many

of you now him as the guy from Oprah. had an amazing journey. He

start out weight was 863 pounds. He was never expected to live through the

surgery. In the

first 10 months he lost 560 pounds, and ended up losing 608 total. He had

been homebound for 20 years because of his weight prior to surgery, he had

also been in a wheelchair for 12 years. He got a new lease on life after

surgery and he embraced it to the fullest over the past few years. I first

met Pete at the first support group meeting I attended. Even though it had

been 3 years since his surgery he still attended each and every support

group meeting. He said that the doctor's there could save a persons life,

but he could provide someone with hope. He also worked as a volunteer for

the hospital and visited and supported weight loss surgery patients on a

regular basis. He has answered tens of thousands of emails over the past

few years providing support. He also did many speaking engagement not only

to the patient community but also to the medical community to educate them

as to the needs of pre and post op patients. When I had my gastric bypass

he

was there to hold my hand in the recovery room and again when I had my

plastic surgery.

Over the past few months we have spent a great deal of time together. He

became very close to myself and my family. He had become Uncle Pete to my

kids. knew that he was dying due to medical condition unrelated to the

weight loss surgery. We had several conversations about it. He did not

share this information with everyone he just wanted to live each and every

day that he had left to the fullest. He did not want anyone to feel pity

for him because he had finally gotten his life back and now he was going to

die. He was not bitter or angry. Instead he looked at as he should have

died years ago and God had given him a second chance to have a few years to

really enjoy life. He had several goals that he wanted to achieve in the

little time that he had left. Number one being featured on the Oprah

Winfrey show, that became a reality a couple of months ago. He wanted to

do the first cover of the WLS Lifestyles magazine with me, that wish came

true. Another was a video on weight loss surgery that he just completed,

another was his poster of two girls in his pants (he says that he and God

had a talk about that one) and he wanted to complete his book " Battle For

Survival " . He asked my help in achieving these goals. We managed to get

just about everything done. The book I have most of the information for and

I will do my best to complete it and make him proud. He wanted for the

proceeds from these items to be donated to patients that had been successful

in losing the weight and are unable to afford the plastic surgery

afterwards. I will also work to make sure that this becomes a reality.

Over the past few months I have had the privilege of helping Pete get out

and do everything that he wanted to. We have been shopping, to carnivals,

an aquarium, parks with my kids, etc. He also wanted to attend the ASBS

conference in Boston last week. We went and he had the time of his life

meeting surgeons and people from the Bariatric community from around the

world and telling them his story. After the conference he had one last wish

he wanted to go on a cruise to the Bahamas and really live it up. We spent

last weekend jet skiing, snorkeling, swimming and just having fun. He knew

that his time was getting close and asked me to go to lunch with him on

Wednesday. He thanked me and told me " I have lived more in the past eight

weeks than I did in the past twenty years " he then gave me a hug and drove

away. Those words are forever etched in my memory. That was the last time

I saw . On Thursday I tried to call him several times. When there was

no answer I drove to his house to check on him. He had passed away at his

computer doing what he always did, providing support to one of us.

Herida's amazing spirit will forever be alive in my memory as I hope

it will be in yours as well. There will be a tribute page added to his

website within the next week. Anyone wishing to send a message to his

family can post here or send it to me via email lindaalmonte@.... If

you would like to send a card please contact me. He loved it when one of

his post got flames, so let's break the records for him!!! Pete's website

is www.bigpete803.com "

target= " _blank " >http://www.bigpete803.com " >www.bigpete803.com to read more

about his story.