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Mom: My Son Dieted to Death ...Thanks to the Army

Glenni Wilsey lost 85 pounds in less than 4 months

By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 27, 2011 4:26 PM CDT

(Newser) – Glenni Wilsey, about six feet tall, weighed roughly 270 pounds in high school. When he died this month at age 20, he weighed just 197 pounds. He had shed 85 pounds in only 3 and a half months—because, his mother says, Army recruiters encourgaged him to do so. Wilsey was told that in order to achieve his goal of enlisting in the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit and going on active duty, he would need to lose 70 pounds—fast, mom Lora Bailey tells Fox 8 Cleveland.

She claims recruiters encouraged him to wear a waist band and wet suit under two sweat suits, run for hours after eating only 800 calories a day, and even purge through vomiting. Though he eventually appeared emaciated, he was allegedly told he still had seven pounds to lose. Two days later, he collapsed and died from acute cardiac dysrhythmia due to a dieting-related electrolyte imbalance. The Army is investigating Bailey's claims.

This Sept. 2010 photo provided by the family shows Glenni Glenn Wilsey V.
This Sept. 2010 photo provided by the family shows Glenni "Glenn" Wilsey V.   (AP Photo/Lara Bailey)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 12 comments
SwtNSourKraut
Mar 28, 2011 12:32 PM CDT
My fiancee is an Iraq combat-veteran, and according to him, the military at large (not just the Army) uses the weight requirements in ways that defy common sense. He's seen guys that were "overweight" because they were c*ck-diesel told that they had to drop weight to fit the standard. You know....exactly the kind of guy you could trust to be able to carry a wounded soldier to safety, "dead-weight" if need be. So yeah, they were "over-weight", if you consider most NFL players to be over-weight, or guys like Mark Wahlberg or Dwayne Johnson and so forth. I can't say that that's what happened with this young man, but it does speak to the ineptitude of yet another government-run program. Surprise, surprise.
mittra303
Mar 28, 2011 8:23 AM CDT
This young man's ideal weight would have been in the neighborhood of 160#, which at 270 put him more than 100# overweight. Did anyone see the movie "Stripes" with Bill Murray? There was a time when the Army would take all comers and through boot camp would make them lose weight. Now, when we're engaged in two (or three depending on your count) wars, they're suddenly getting picky and don't want "fat" recruits. Ironically, at least half of the American population is technically overweight these days.
bellmar
Mar 28, 2011 6:35 AM CDT
So that gram of Crank per day had nothing to do with it ?

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