My 600-lb Life star Latonya Pottain has died at the age of 40, Us Weekly can confirm.
Pottain died on Saturday, May 17, at a hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana, according to the Natchitoches Parish Coroner’s Office. TMZ, who was first to break the news reported that Pottain’s preliminary autopsy found that she died from congestive heart failure.
A final autopsy report has yet to be completed.
Pottain’s brother told TMZ that family members visited the reality star at her home prior to her death. He claimed she had difficulty breathing and did not look well. The family received a call from a nurse later who told them Pottain called an ambulance. She was taken to the hospital due to cardiac arrest.
Pottain was best known for appearing on My 600-lb Life season 11, which aired in February 2023. During her time on the TLC series, Pottain embarked on a weight loss journey ahead of her wedding to her husband, Duane. However, Pottain struggled to lose weight as she didn’t want to stop eating certain foods.
While meeting with Dr. Younan Nowzaradan, also known as Dr. Now, on the show, he told Pottain that she had actually gained weight in recent weeks.
While Pottain did not qualify for bariatric surgery, she did continue to make strides in her health journey. One month after appearing on My 600-lb Life, Pottain gave an update on her progress.
“I’m back with my trainer, I’m dieting and my weight is going down,” Pottain said in a March 2023 interview with the Shreveport Times. “I’m also moving to be closer to my family so I can get my weight down and get my surgery.”
In addition to working on herself, Pottain was also working on her goal to open a shelter for at-risk girls.
“All my life I have taken care of young girls and helped support them, getting them through school, helping them with their kids and just encourage them and be there for them,” she explained. “There’s so many young girls that have lost both of their parents, going through what I went through as a teenager and not having anywhere to go. Some of them don’t feel loved at home and my group home will offer them that love and support, help them go to school, when they graduate, help them find an apartment, help them with their college applications. You know, just like a family.”
