'I don't want to be like this anymore': Help coming for 825-lb Michigan woman who can't go home

WAYNE, Mich. (FOX 2) - Juaunia Bates needed help. She was in the hospital for a severe swelling problem and was just about ready to be discharged – but was told she couldn't go back home because she was a fire hazard.

Bates' story, today, is not the one she wants to tell. In 2018, she watched her boyfriend get murdered in front of her. She stopped leaving the house and was traumatized – but never got therapy.

In those six years, she gained 300 pounds. 

On Wednesday, she spoke with FOX 2 from her room at Corewell Health in Wayne where she was set to be discharged. But she wasn't able to go home to the 8th floor of the apartment at Westchester Towers because she was a fire hazard.

"I just needed help. I can't keep living like this," she said.

It had taken 15 firefighters and paramedics to get her into the elevator and to the hospital to be treated for lymphedema - severe swelling that causes painful bed sores. Now that she's been treated, it's time to go home – but where? 

The property manager at the Westchester Towers in Wayne would not answer our questions about Bates but issued a statement that said "Ms. Bates is welcome at Westchester Towers and we look forward to her returning to her home. We are not aware of any restrictions that would prevent her from returning and wish her all the best."

On Thursday, she spoke with the manager who is working to get a first-floor apartment ready for Bates. She says the hospital is not discharging her just yet, but she still worries about what happens when she does go home.

"I don't have the right medical equipment," she said. "Medicare and Medicaid doesn't pay for a lot of things."

Bates was terrified she would go home with zero help or support.

"My worst fear was to go home and not getting any help and just die - that was my worst fear," Bates said.

She has a social worker who is trying to help and personal trainers and physical therapists have reached out to her since seeing our story.

"I just received a phone call from a place out in Ohio - a rehabilitation center that's starting a bariatric unit and they want me to come out there," Bates said.

She wants help. She knows that she can't continue living through the trauma from 2018.

"It put me in a bad space to where I have, literally, trapped myself in my own body," she said. "When stuff happens to you - get some type of help."

Juaunia Bates

She knows the road is long but she's ready to get better. But her goals are achievable.

"To walk again and go outside and just be able to not be a burden on my family anymore because I feel like I'm the biggest burden," Bates said. "It's only up from here."