37-Year-Old Reality TV Personality Dies From Heart Attack: What We Know About Gabriel Freitas’ Death

Brazilian reality star Gabriel Freitas has died. According to Daily Star, the 37-year-old had lost over 30 stone (around 384 pounds), going on to appear on a show called Programa do Gugu on RecordTV, inspiring millions with his weight loss journey after he started gaining weight when he was a teenager. After the death of his father and brother, Freitas gained even more weight, weighing almost 60 stone before he died.

Freitas’ close friend Ricard Gouvea confirmed his death, revealing he died on Dec. 30 after suffering a heart attack in his bed but he “didn’t suffer.” Gouvea said, “Gabriel died practically sleeping, he didn’t suffer. He died trying. He fought to the end, he was very strong and I have a lot of respect for him. He was a very good person with a very good heart.”

Prior to his death, Freitas was dedicating himself to losing weight again. He announced on social media last October, “A new phase is about to begin for me. Whatever it takes I’m going to get out of bed on November 1 with the help of God. Until then I’ll take it to the extreme. Total fasting to day one to recover my legs. Getting closer to God in prayers.” His goal was to lose 15 stone without the help of medicine or surgery.

Along with Programa do Gugu, he also took fans on his journey on social media, especially Instagram and YouTube. Over the last seven years he’s been detailing his weight loss on the channel My Parallel Universe, at the time writing, “My name is Gabriel Freitas, I’m 29 years old, I’m 1.94 metres tall, I weigh 320kg when I started my weight loss process and 310kg when I started recording for YouTube. I decided to share my struggle to lose weight with all of you in order to help you with motivation and to show that it is possible to lose weight without surgery or medication. Here you’ll see all the changes from a guy who weighed 320kg to the body he always dreamed of. Welcome to my life.”

Fans have shared their condolences on social media, with one sharing, “I can’t believe this, my God.” In response to Ricard Gouvea, another said, “What sad news Ricardo. My condolences to you and Gabriel’s family. May God protect him. We know he was a warrior.”