When Dawid and Rose-Mari Lombard exchanged vows, the phrase “until death do us part” likely held a different meaning than the reality they almost faced. Their unhealthy lifestyle in Winnie Mandela, Free State, South Africa, had them approaching a perilous future that could have left their son without parents at a young age.

The Lombards’ daily routine included consuming a loaf of bread each and washing it down with an astonishing 12 liters of full-fat Coca-Cola, along with an endless array of junk food. This dietary habit was not sustainable and posed a serious threat to their health.

Dawid, 39, recounted, “We lived on 12 liters of Coke and two loaves of white bread every day, not to mention the copious amounts of junk food. On our way to McDonald’s, we’d stop at KFC for a quick snack, and in the evenings, we’d each devour a whole bag of Quality Street chocolates when craving something sweet.”

At their heaviest, the couple together weighed nearly 440 kilograms (around 70 stone) and suffered from significant health issues, including type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

The turning point came when they realized the impact their lifestyle had on their 10-year-old son, Divan, who was facing bullying due to their appearance and was also heading down a path toward severe obesity. Motivated by the need to set a healthier example, Dawid and Rose-Mari embarked on a transformative journey, shedding a combined total of 40 stone.

But after realising that their 10-year-old son, Divan, was being bullied because of their appearance – and also following the same path to morbid obesity – the couple took drastic action and lost a total of 40 stone between them. 

Dawid said: ‘My son has to wear under-16 rugby jerseys at 10 years old.

‘I say this with shame – I saw my child in the same place I was at his age and I wanted a better life for him.’

Dawid Lombard before he lost weight 

Dawid and Rose-Mari Lombard with their son Divan… and a pair of Dawid’s old shorts

Since the Lombards’ lifestyle change which saw them remove all sugar and junk food from the family home, young Divan has also reaped the benefits and has lost 10kg (just over a stone).

Before changing their lifestyle, Dawid weighed just under 300kg, or about 47st, more than twice his wife’s body weight, and was warned by doctors he ‘wouldn’t see 40’, had limited mobility due to his weight – and even had to leave his job as a result. 

Dawid had high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, inflammation and sleep apnoea, a condition where you stop breathing due to excess weight pushing down on the throat.

He said: ‘I thought every night might be my last.’ 

And, given his difficulty with movement, Dawid was also dependent on his family for everything – admitting  Divan ‘half-avoided’ him as a result.

Rose-Mari weighed 140kg – or just over 22st – and had many of the same health issues as her husband.

She said: ‘There are so many people who gossiped about us, but to our faces they were friendly.’  

Dawid and Rose-Mari, who work as sales agents for farm machinery, hit breaking point in September 2024, deciding enough was enough.

Dawid now hopes to have skin removal surgery

Rose-Mari wrote a letter begging for help from Dr Smook & Partners, a Bloemfontein-based medical practice that helps people achieve their ideal weight loss.

With the help of the medical team there, Dawid and Rose-Mari kissed goodbye to the weight that was threatening to kill them.

Recalling his feelings at the time, Dawid said: ‘I was angry when I first started on my weight loss journey.

‘Angry at the dozens of diets he tried and failed, at my friends and family who had long insisted I lose weight, at doctors who told me I was killing myself, even at sugar itself!’

A biokineticist recommended Dawid simply start walking – just 100m a day – and do some arm exercises with weights.

One morning in September 2024, he put on his compression socks and emerged from the front door – rare at the time – with a walking stick in his hand.

With Rose-Mari and Divan alongside him, he initially took two steps at a time before needing to rest, but kept at the daily walking with determination.

Those 100m per day have now become at least 5km a day.

The family are all losing weight together

Dawid was once too big to fit behind the steering wheel of his pickup truck  

Within the first month of his regime, Dawid shed 20kg, or 3st 2lb – enough to fit behind the wheel of his brand new Ford Ranger Bakkie, a pick-up truck.

‘The day we went to collect the Bakkie, they’d put a red ribbon on it,’ Rose-Mari recalled.

‘But when Dawid tried to climb in, he couldn’t fit behind the truck’s steering wheel.

‘He flattened the seat to make more space.

‘But we still drove the 60km from Bloemfontein back home with a constant honking, as his stomach pressed against the hooter of the steering wheel.’

With those kind of episodes far behind him, Dawid is less than half the man he used to be.

He’s lost 183kg (29st), with his waist size dropping from 190cm to 80cm, and his pants size down from a 62 to a size 36.

Rose-Mari has meanwhile lost an impressive 81kg (nearly 13st), her waist size now 50cm, down from 140cm.

The couple have lost a combined total of 40 stone 

That means together they have shed an astonishing 264kg, or around 40st.

After six months of getting fitter, the couple joined a gym, though they were ‘too shy’ at first to join the general public and arranged for a personal trainer to come in an hour earlier so they could work out alone.

Today, they exercise daily – in front of other people.

Dawid and Rose-Mari’s treatment includes a dietitian-compiled eating plan and injections with a hormone that regulates glucose and blood sugar levels, as well as controlling appetite.

Rose-Mari added: ‘We still eat well. It’s about harmony and balance.

‘Our meals consist of protein, vegetables and healthy starches such as brown rice and rye bread.

‘We treat ourselves to the occasional soft drink, but only the sugar-free kind.

‘But mostly we live on water.’

Dawid said: ‘When I look at myself now, I see the real me – the Dawid who was always inside that big body,

‘I never realised who and what I could really be.’

Today, Dawid’s anger and reclusiveness have vanished and been replaced with gratitude.

He added: ‘My health problems have evaporated like mist burned off by the sun.

‘I never thought I’d be where I am now.

‘Doctors told me I wouldn’t see 40 – but then I met people who truly believed in me for the first time, who were willing to walk a path with me.’

Rose-Mari says their life has changed in small but mighty ways too, with Dawid’s confidence improving by the day.

She said: ‘He used to look at me while talking to people. It shows how much he’s changed.’

She hasn’t had injections for five months now and maintains her weight with good eating habits and exercise.

Her health problems have disappeared, and she hopes she and Dawid, who is still on injections, will conceive a child again soon.

Dawid is also at his target weight but wants to have his loose skin, which weighs an estimated 20kg, removed.

However, Rose-Mari says she wears hers with pride.

She added: ‘And anyone who wants to laugh about it or point it out, I just want to tell them, ‘Do you know what I had to do to get these skin folds?’

The couple now want to get new wedding rings and hold a rededication ceremony – and make new promises in their new bodies.