‘My 600-lb Life’: Abusive father, possessive husband and fiance's death encouraged Coliesa to overeat
Coliesa McMillian is a 41-year-old mother of four, who is currently being taken care of by her sister, Mendi, as her enormous body allows her only minimal movements. Elaborating more on her struggles owing to her weight, Coliesa said in tonight’s (March 18) episode of ‘My 600-lb Life’ that she goes to the bathroom in the bucket as getting up even for the basic tasks is a challenge for her.
Meanwhile, she also needs her daughters’ help to navigate day-to-day life while being trapped in her own body. Although her sister, Mendi, doesn’t mind taking care of her, Coliesa feels her weight is not only affecting her own life, but that of her loved ones too. Her youngest daughter, Sadie, feels her mother deserves a better life, while Coliesa believes her daughters deserve a better parent.
Coliesa’s obesity, however, is a result of years of abuse and harassment by several people that she encountered from an early age. She lost her mother to cancer when was only three, leaving her with an abusive and alcoholic father. She was sent into foster care and ended up with a good family.
However, she was subjected to molestation by one of her cousins at an early age. But when everyone refused to believe Coliesa when she shared the horrific experience. And she was forced to turn to food for comfort.
Things changed for worse when her father remarried a 16-year-old girl and took Coliesa and her brother back only to get the welfare cheques. She also shared an unhealthy relationship with her stepmother, who resorted to slapping Coliesa when she wouldn’t address her as her stepmother.
On learning about the issues between Coliesa and his young bride, the former’s father decided to leave Coliesa with her great-granduncle, who had just got out of jail for raping his granddaughters. She says her granduncle and biological father took everything from her. She kept getting bigger and lost all hopes. Teenage pregnancy and an abusive relationship with a man that she married after dropping out of high school, made her life worse.
Coliesa weighed over 500 pounds by the time she was 25. She had her first heart attack when she was 39 and the doctors said she won’t be able to survive another. She lost her fiance, Melvin, in a car accident. She had met him when she was 31.
Although she was happy and ready to find some balance in her life after meeting Melvin, his tragic death pushed her in a downward spiral and Coliesa feels there’s no way she can stop eating.
‘My 600-lb Life’ airs on TLC on Wednesdays.