Latonya Pottain, a former star of “My 600-Lb. Life,” has died.
Pottain passed away May 17 at Christus Highland Medical Center at age 40 in Shreveport, Louisiana, according to a Natchitoches Parish Coroner’s Office report.
Pottain’s preliminary cause of death was listed as acute on chronic congestive heart failure and her manner of her death was listed as natural. A final autopsy is pending.
Pottain appeared on Season 11 of the TLC reality series after she had struggled to lose weight for five years. During her time on the show, she opened up about how she had turned to food for comfort after losing her mother at a young age and after her father left the family.
Pottain’s death comes just two months after a GoFundMe was created in February to help her seek medical treatment during “the most challenging time” in her life.
“I’m currently getting close to my highest weight of 740 pounds and I worked extremely hard to get it down. Now I currently weigh about 705 pounds and have been bedridden since June 2024 due to severe health issues,” Pottain wrote in the fundraiser’s text.
Pottain said she weighed 531 pounds at the beginning of her season of “My 600-Lb. Life” 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,” she wrote. “My mental health suffered, and I became fearful of undergoing weight loss surgery.”
Pottain added that in 2023 she moved to Houston for a fresh start, but ended up in an “abusive relationship” at the same time that her father was diagnosed with cancer.
“Unable to take the emotional and physical toll, I returned home to Louisiana,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, my health continued to decline, and I developed severe sciatica nerve pain, which caused extreme stomach cramps.”
Pottain said she began therapy after her body “rejected” the prescription pain medicine fentanyl.
“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,” she wrote. “Without the ability to work, I have no income to purchase a car or arrange for special medical transportation.”
Pottain said she hoped to be able to raise enough funds to support herself and also to afford medical transportation to receive the medical care she required.
“This has been an incredibly difficult journey,” she wrote, “and I truly want to fight for my health and my life.”
