‘My 600-Lb. Life’ Star Latonya Pottain Cause of Death Is Shocking
Latonya Pottain, who rose to national attention through her emotional journey on TLC’s My 600-Lb. Life, has tragically passed away at just 40 years old.
Her death was confirmed by the Natchitoches Parish Coroner’s Office on May 17, with early reports pointing to congestive heart failure as the likely cause — a heartbreaking and unexpected end to a life marked by struggle, resilience, and hope.
Rise to Public Awareness Through TLC
Latonya gained national attention after appearing in Season 11, Episode 2 of My 600-Lb. Life, a series that follows the journeys of morbidly obese individuals who seek medical intervention to improve their health.
In her episode, the Shreveport, Louisiana native shared her emotional story and the trauma that shaped her relationship with food. The youngest of three children, Latonya said she began turning to food for comfort following several life-altering events. Her mother died suddenly when she was 12 years old, and her father moved away shortly after to be with another woman.
At just 15, she began living on her own after her father co-signed an apartment for her. During her episode, she opened up about the challenges of losing her support system at a young age and how that contributed to her health struggles over time.
A Journey Fueled by Love and Loss
Latonya joined My 600-Lb. Life with the hope of turning her life around so she could walk down the aisle and marry her fiancé, Daune. According to the Shreveport Times, Latonya’s motivation was not only health-related but rooted in personal goals and dreams.
However, her journey was met with hurdles. She shared that the death of her brother just before filming began deeply impacted her emotionally and hindered her progress in losing weight.
Despite setbacks, Latonya remained hopeful. “I’m back with my trainer, I’m dieting and my weight is going down,” she told the Shreveport Times in 2023. “I’m also moving to be closer to my family so I can get my weight down and get my surgery.”
Ongoing Health Battles and a Plea for Help
In February 2024, Latonya launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for medical expenses, revealing that she had become bedridden in June due to worsening health conditions and had reached close to her highest weight of 740 pounds.
“I worked extremely hard to get it down,” she wrote on the fundraising page. “My journey with weight struggles has been a long and difficult one. In 2022, I was featured on My 600-lb Life, where I started at 531 pounds and worked hard to get down to 505 pounds. However, after the show aired, I experienced overwhelming backlash, which sent me into a deep depression. My mental health suffered, and I became fearful of undergoing weight loss surgery.”
Latonya also disclosed that in 2023, she relocated to Houston to begin again, but ended up in an abusive relationship while simultaneously dealing with her father’s cancer diagnosis.
“Unable to take the emotional and physical toll, I returned home to Louisiana. Unfortunately, my health continued to decline, and I developed severe sciatica nerve pain, which caused extreme stomach cramps,” she wrote. “I was prescribed fentanyl, but my body rejected the medication, leading me to begin therapy. Now, I am completely bedridden and unable to get to the hospital because EMTs say transporting me would be a fire hazard due to my weight.”
A Passion for Helping Young Women
Despite her personal struggles, Latonya was passionate about supporting youth, particularly girls in foster care. Drawing from her own experience of growing up without a stable home, she worked to make a difference in her community.
“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 said in 2023. “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.”
At the time, Latonya shared aspirations of founding a girls’ group home and planning a future wedding. Despite the challenges she faced, she often emphasized the importance of resilience and self-worth.
“Life can take a turn and you have to have to be positive and just remind yourself that you are special, you are somebody,” she said.
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Raissa Asunbo is a Content Editor at All About The Tea. She lives in Toronto, Canada and enjoys reading, watching movies, traveling and spending time with her family.
