audio, stills, text and or video: Go to zReportage.com to see more - For years, Hector Garcia Jr. battled severe obesity and all its consequences: the pain, the ridicule and the lost hopes. After years of repeatedly gaining and losing hundreds of pounds, Garcia, who at one point weighed 636 pounds, once again was stuck in the back bedroom of his parents' modest house, in San Antonio, Texas. His weight put him in a category known as severely obese, which makes up about 6.3 percent of the U.S. population. The rate of severe obesity is growing even faster than the rate of people who are merely overweight - 33 percent - or obese - 36 percent. Neither the state nor local health agencies track the percentage of people with severe obesity, which is more dangerous than lesser degrees of obesity because it raises the likelihood of dying prematurely - one recent study suggests 14 years early - from heart disease, cancer and diabetes. An untold number of people with severe obesity live in isolation like Garcia, unable to find or access the medical and psychological help they need to combat its pervasive effects.
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Dec. 20, 2010 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. uses a upper-body pedal exerciser at his home. Unable to leave the house or walk without the aid of a walker and wheelchair, Garcia had to figure out different ways to burn calories. He ordered the pedal exerciser and began using it twice a day for several minutes, his first attempt at exercise in several years.
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Feb. 10, 2011 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. waits for his mother to pick him up after an eye exam. After having lost enough weight that he could again leave his house, Garcia chose getting new glasses as his first appointment.
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Nov. 20, 2010 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. gets a visit from his family to celebrate his 45th birthday. His sister, REBECCA FREED, from front, her daughter, LAUREN IBARRA, step-daughter, BROOKE FREED, and Rebecca's husband, TOM FREED, brought him Gerber daisies, balloons and a card.
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Nov. 9, 2010 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. rests after walking from his bedroom across the hall to the bathroom. After years of carrying hundreds of extra pounds, Hector's knees were severely damaged and he was unable to walk more than a few steps without the aid of a walker and a wheelchair for longer distances.
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Feb. 10, 2011 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. pulls himself out of his wheelchair and then has to lean on a walker to get into the back seat of his mother's vehicle.
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Nov. 9, 2010 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - At almost 600 pounds, HECTOR GARCIA JR. finds simple daily tasks like bathing a challenge. He struggled to walk across the hall from his bedroom to the bathroom so that his mother, ELENA GARCIA, could wash him after cutting his hair. A month before, Hector started dieting after he realized he was close to his highest known weight, 636 pounds.
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Nov. 20, 2010 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. is skeptical of the sugar-free cake his mother bought for him as he celebrates his 45th birthday with his niece, LAUREN IBARRA.
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Feb. 26, 2011 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. laughs with his nieces, BROOKE FREED, left, and LAUREN IBARRA. His five nieces and one nephew looked up to him and loved being with him.
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Feb. 28, 2011 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. cries as he talks about his life. 'My life is a cautionary tale,' Hector said of his lifelong struggle with obesity.
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May 16, 2011 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. rests after walking laps for the first time at the Palo Alto College Aquatic Center pool. Barely able to move without the aid of a walker because of his damaged knees, Garcia could walk in the water with little pain.
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July 7, 2011 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - After walking laps three days a week at the YMCA, HECTOR GARCIA JR. saw his efforts to lose weight were paying off.
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July 12, 2011 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. walks back to the car after visiting the grave of his sister, Terry Amen. His nieces, LAUREN IBARRA, from left, CHELSEA AMEN, who is Terry's daughter, and BROOKE FREED, accompanied him.
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Sept. 13, 2011 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. teases his mother and caretaker, ELENA GARCIA, as he shoots baskets at the Westside Family YMCA. When Garcia began going to the YMCA, he was only able to walk in the pool. As he lost weight and became more mobile, he could eventually lift weights.
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Nov. 24, 2011 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. plays with his nephew, BRANDON GARCIA, of Houston, on Thanksgiving at his sister's house. Having lost more than 200 pounds, Garcia was able to leave his house and attend his family's Thanksgiving gathering for the first time in several years.
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Nov. 24, 2011 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - Having dieted for the previous year, HECTOR GARCIA JR. had to stay away from the plentiful assortment of Thanksgiving desserts.
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Dec. 22, 2011 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. and LUPITA MENDOZA share ice cream cones at Marble Slab. Garcia met Mendoza, who lives in Alabama, on Facebook through a mutual friend and got together for coffee and ice cream when she visited San Antonio.
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April 20, 2012 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - After losing almost 300 pounds, HECTOR GARCIA JR. no longer needed a walker, but his knee pain was still debilitating. He continued to walk laps in the pool up until his knee surgery. Garcia was not always bowlegged but as he put on weight as a teenager, his knees were most affected.
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May 8, 2012 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. pumps his fist as he stands on the scale, seeing that he had lost seven pounds in the previous week. By early May 2012, he was down to 290 pounds, closer to his goal so he can have both of his damaged knees replaced.
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July 2, 2012 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. relaxes in the sauna after walking laps in the pool and lifting weights at the Davis Scott Family YMCA, the day before his first knee-replacement operation.
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July 3, 2012 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - As he begins to drift off, HECTOR GARCIA JR. is prepared for anesthesia and his first knee replacement surgery at Mission Trail Baptist Hospital. After years of carrying hundreds of extra pounds, Garcia could barely walk on his damaged knees. He'd lost more than 300 pounds on his own through dieting and exercise so he could have both knees fixed.
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July 3, 2012 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR.'S nieces, JORDAN GARCIA, from left, BROOKE FREED and LAUREN IBARRA, pay him a visit as he recovers from knee replacement surgery.
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July 17, 2012 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. undergoes physical therapy after his first knee replacement operation.
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Nov. 22, 2012 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. plays with his nephew, BRANDON GARCIA, on Thanksgiving.
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June 10, 2014 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - By last June 2014, HECTOR GARCIA JR.'S weight was again nearing 500 pounds. After four knee surgeries, he needed to use a walker for support again and felt his knees were unstable. The Garcias often had trouble finding motorized scooters at stores but found two for Garcia and his mother, ELENA, on their grocery shopping trip.
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Oct. 3, 2014 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. uses a continuous positive airway pressure machine to sleep. When he lost weight, Hector no longer needed the machine, but as his breathing became more labored in recent months, he resumed use of it.
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Nov. 19, 2014 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - HECTOR GARCIA JR. lights the candle on his cake for his 49th birthday as his mother, ELENA GARCIA, begins to sing to him at their home.
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Dec. 8, 2014 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - The deceased body of HECTOR GARCIA JR. is removed from his home by contractors with the Bexar County Medical Examiner's office after he said he couldn't breathe and collapsed.
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Dec. 9, 2014 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - Crumb, one of the Garcia family dogs, lies on Hector Garcia Jr.'s bed shortly after his body was removed by contractors with the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office. Garcia collapsed in the living room after walking 40 feet from his room to the front door.
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Dec. 9, 2014 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - JOHN GARCIA embraces his mother, ELENA GARCIA, while his sister, ROSIE GARCIA, embraces his son, BRANDON, 6, as they arrive in San Antonio from Houston, the day after his brother, Hector Garcia Jr., collapsed and died at home.
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Dec. 15, 2014 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - REBECCA FREED, with her step-daughter, BROOKE FREED, touches her brother, HECTOR GARCIA JR., during the private family viewing at Trevino Funeral Home Palo Alto.
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Dec. 15, 2014 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - ELENA and HECTOR GARCIA SR., the parents of Hector Garcia Jr., are embraced by their best friends, PATSY and RUBEN VILLARREAL, during the private viewing for their son at Trevino Funeral Home Palo Alto.
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Dec. 15, 2014 - San Antonio, Texas, U.S. - JOHN GARCIA says goodbye to his brother, HECTOR GARCIA JR., with his wife, ROSA GARCIA, and their son, BRANDON GARCIA, 6, at Trevino Funeral Home Palo Alto.
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