TLC production crew had to step in and break their cardinal rule of “never intervening” after filming for My 600-Lb. Life turned dangerous.
In a teaser for the Wednesday, March 20, episode, new weight loss patient, Delena, decided to visit Dr. Nowzaradan in Houston after a simple errand to the grocery store turned into an emergency situation. However, their long road trip to Texas to visit the medical professional turned frightening after their vehicle broke down only fifty miles into the trip.
“We are stuck in the middle of the f–king road,” Delena is heard saying as cars drove around their minivan in the middle of a busy highway.
A title card then announced that the camera crew “broke their own rule of never intervening” to help push Delena to safety. The situation was especially dangerous as Delena was unable to maneuver herself out of the vehicle quickly due to her limited mobility.
“Did it overheat or anything?” Delena asked James, who was driving the vehicle. “Nope, it just stopped,” he replied. “The same problem we just got fixed.”
Prior to their embarkment, Delena was nervous about the drive as she hadn’t been on a road trip “in a very long time.”
“I am excited, extremely excited because I’m going to see Dr. Now, which is something that has been a long time coming,” the TLC personality explained to producers in a private confessional. “It’s going to be a very long road trip, today it’s going to be roughly a seven-hour drive, tomorrow is gonna be six and a half, seven-hour drive. Seems a little daunting.” She also revealed that vehicle-wise there shouldn’t have been any issues as the car had been running “perfectly fine.”
“I don’t have any concerns about making it there in time, or anything like that,” she continued. “I’m ready, let’s do this.”
Fans have watched several patients lose thousands of pounds collectively on My 600-Lb. Life since its debut in February 2012. The man behind those transformations is Dr. Younan Nowzaradan, who performs all the procedures on the TLC series. He’s in every episode and many have lovingly nicknamed the medical professional Dr. Now.
The surgeon specializes in gastric bypass surgeries but also does a variety of general, vascular and weight loss surgeries. Before approving patients for weight loss surgery, Dr. Now requires them to follow his 1,200-calorie diet plan. He also emphasizes that gastric bypass isn’t a magical operation that will deliver lasting results overnight.
“You have to be mentally prepared for it, because it is a life-changing situation,” Season 4 patient Chad Dean told People in 2017. “If you don’t change it, it’s not going to work for you.”
