I really liked one of the guys from this latest season named James "LB" Bonner. He was this big guy from South Carolina whose weight got out of control after an accident led to the amputation of his right leg. His weight got up to 650 pounds, which was threatening to affect his mobility. He was already outgrowing his old artificial leg back when he was on the program because it was wearing out under his weight. And the medical supply company was refusing to sell him a new leg because he weighed too much.
He was one of the rare people who appeared on the show and instantly realized the tremendous opportunity that had been laid out in front of them. He began losing weight pretty quickly and steadily and really never backslid. He managed to get his weight down into the 200-pound range and built up quite the fanbase on Facebook and elsewhere. I followed his FB page for a while and really admired his progress and positive attitude.
But things weren't perfect for LB. It was clear from the program and from the program's aftermath that he suffered from depression. He appeared to be managing its symptoms fairly well, but depression is a chronic and an insidious creature. He would talk about work struggles. And he continued to have problems with his leg.
I stopped following LB's FB page a few weeks ago. There was no particular reason for this. I was just trying to simplify my own FB feed. I learned tonight that LB committed suicide earlier this month.
LB Bonner apparently left a now-deleted post on his FB page on Thursday, August 2nd:
“I just want to say thank you to everyone who has shown me love and support throughout my journey,” he wrote in a since-deleted post. “I’ve realized a few things over the last few days and its time that, I face my demons head on.. No matter what you change or the efforts you put forth in life, sometimes you just have to take it on the chin and deal with things your own way…Again, thank y’all so much…Please don’t ever let people you care about not know how you feel.”Us Weekly reports that he died from a single self-inflected gunshot wound to the head at a park in Lexington, SC.
I'm really sorry to his friends and family about his passing. I never knew him, but LB was a very nice man and an inspiration to many.