Obese Aftab trapped in home for five years

He tipped the scales at 30 stone when he tied the knot with long suffering wife Millie, 21, who became his 24 hour-a-day carer as well as wife at the West Bromwich terraced house he never left.

Fifteen months later he weighed 'just over' 39 stone and both his health and marriage were in danger of collapse because he could not stop eating.

He only started to put on weight in his 20s but now binged on a gut busting 12,000 calories-a-day – five times the recommended intake for a man – and was warned he was munching his way to an early grave.

One minute Aftab declared as he munched through another mountain of food: "It is my addiction. This is what makes me happy."

The next, he confessed while wiping away tears: "I don't like it. I have hurt a lot of people. The beast in me is eating me away."

So, with the help of experts on the Channel 4 TV show Shut Ins: Britain's Fattest People, he started to get into shape.

Aftab is one of an estimated 50,000 people in this country dubbed super morbidly obese but refused surgery to reduce size.

He was determined to do it by dieting and exercising with help from personal trainer Michael Hippolyte, and in six months he had shed as many stone.

He had the energy and self confidence to go walking around the corner under cover of darkness and bumped into near neighbours he had not seen for years. This was because he had been marooned in the living room, which became his prison, looking mournfully out of the window as life passed him by. It has been a long and hard journey and at times Aftab would lose his temper taking his anger and frustrations out on the very people who were desperately trying to help him.

He had an argument with Michael and cut all ties, he constantly shouted at wife Millie but after some tough love from the experts, he realised the error of his ways and got back on track.

His wife Millie has proved to be a constant source of support, sticking by him, preparing his diet foods, exercising with him and helping to keep his spirits up.

Not only does she care for her husband every day but she also moved away from all her family and friends to be with Aftab.

"I do get lonely," she said.

As Aftab's weight loss increased, so did his confidence and it was time to have a night out. So he took his wife out on their first date and announced: "To go out, it's fun, it's really awesome."

The look of pure joy on the faces of the couple, who met through Facebook, as they visited a fairground was a relief to those watching the programme.

His story is a heartbreaking one, watching a man self-destruct by overeating, but seeing him try to change his life is positive.

His journey isn't over yet, but the world is Aftab's oyster once more.