'My 600-Lb. Life' star Latonya Pottain dies at 40 after becoming bedridden
Latonya Pottain, a northern Louisiana woman known for her appearance on "My 600-Lb. Life," has died at the age of 40, a local coroner confirmed.
The former reality TV star's cause of death on May 17 has not been confirmed but a preliminary finding suggests that it was likely due to congestive heart failure, according to the Natchitoches Parish Coroner's Office.
The Shreveport woman became well-known during her appearance on Season 11 of the hit TLC show, which showcases the emotional journeys of morbidly obese patients as they lose weight through diet and gastric bypass surgery.
Season 11 Episode 2 followed Pottain, the youngest of three siblings who turned to food for emotional comfort following a series of challenging life experiences. When she was 12, her mother died suddenly and her father moved away to be with another woman. She lived with her oldest sister until she turned 15 when her father co-signed a place for her to live on her own.
Pottain joined the show to get help losing weight so she could walk down the aisle to marry her future husband Daune, according to the Shreveport Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. She said that her brother died shortly before filming began, which impacted her ability to lose weight during the time.
"I'm back with my trainer, I'm dieting and my weight is going down," Pottain told the Shreveport Times in 2023. "I'm also moving to be closer to my family so I can get my weight down and get my surgery."
In February, Pottain created a GoFundMe page seeking financial support being bedridden since June 2024 due to severe health issues and nearing her highest weight of 740 pounds.
"I worked extremely hard to get it down," Pottain wrote. "My journey with weight struggles has been a long and difficult one. In 2022, I was featured on 'My 600-lb Life,' where I started at 531 pounds and worked hard to get down to 505 pounds. However, after the show aired, I experienced overwhelming backlash, which sent me into a deep depression. My mental health suffered, and I became fearful of undergoing weight loss surgery."
Pottain revealed that she moved to Houston in 2023 for a "fresh start" but unfortunately found herself in an abusive relationship while coping with her father's new cancer diagnosis.
"Unable to take the emotional and physical toll, I returned home to Louisiana. Unfortunately, my health continued to decline, and I developed severe sciatica nerve pain, which caused extreme stomach cramps," she wrote. "I was prescribed fentanyl, but my body rejected the medication, leading me to begin therapy. Now, I am completely bedridden and unable to get to the hospital because EMTs say transporting me would be a fire hazard due to my weight."
Lacking a stable environment growing up, Pottain sought to help others in her community as a foster parent.
"All my life I have taken care of young girls and helped support them, getting them through school, helping them with their kids and just encourage them and be there for them," Pottain said in 2023. "There's so many young girls that have lost both of their parents, going through what I went through as a teenager and not having anywhere to go."
At the time she said aimed to found a girls group home and have an "awesome wedding."
"Life can take a turn and you have to have to be positive and just remind yourself that you are special, you are somebody," Pottain said.
Contributing: Meredith G. White, Shreveport Times
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'My 600-Lb. Life' star Latonya Pottain dies at 40
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