Amber Rachdi is considered by many fans to be a My 600 Lb. Life success story, but the Season 3 star is asking fans to stop comparing other cast members’ struggles to her success, insisting that it’s “an intense privilege” for her to be alive 10 years after appearing on the TLC series.
On Thursday, Amber–- who lost more than 300 pounds on ‘My 600 Lb. Life’ with the help of Dr. Younan Nowzaradan (aka Dr. Now) and weight-loss surgery–- posted a video to Instagram this week responding to a recent comment she received from a viewer comparing others who have appeared on the show to her.
In the comment, the individual insisted that “most people” who appear on ‘My 600 Lb. Life’ suffer from a mental disorder that causes their addiction. The individual went on to note that Amber seems to be “very normal” and “intelligent,” which made them question how Amber let herself “get to be that big” years ago.
“This comment has lived rent-free in my head for day,” Amber said in the video. “My name is Amber and 10 years ago, I survived an ordeal. I was told by a doctor when I was young that I would not likely live past age 25. I survived, I should feel proud.”
Amber went on to claim that, for her, the “worst possible outcome of my suffering is that other people’s struggles are compared to my success.”
Amber said that’s not who she wants to be to other people, while also acknowledging that it’s “an intense privilege” for her to be alive today at the age of 35.
Amber then listed her many “peers and friends” from the ‘My 600 Lb. Life’ franchise who died after– or in some cases, while– appearing on the show, including Henry Foots, Rob Buchel, L.B. Bonner, Lisa Fleming, Kelly Mason, Sean Milliken, James King, Coliesa McMillian, Renee Biran, Gina Krasley, Ashley Randall, Laura Perez, Destinee LaShaee, Angela Gutierrez, Larry Myers Jr., Paul MacNeill, Vianey Rodriguez, Latonya Pottain, Dottie Perkins, Lupe Samano and— just this week— Pauline Potter.
Amber insisted that those who appear on ‘My 600 Lb. Life’ are “trying to improve” their lives, noting that it’s “unfair and unfathomably cruel” when fans compare her success to cast members whose stories may not have played out the same way.
“ … these people are complicated,” Amber said. “People like to praise my diligence and my resilience, my ability to persevere and [say] yeah, I’m just lucky. I’m better supported, better educated, better surrounded with care. And I think what people are trying to say is that, because they perceive some of my more difficult peers as the architects of their own misery that they are not owed any shred of human compassion.
“The trouble with this rhetoric is when we start to normalize who does and does not deserve compassion, it leads us to some really dark conclusions,” she continued. “‘Oh, you can’t get care? You smoked your whole life, why would we offer you cancer treatment? Oh, you’re fat? You did it to yourself. Oh, you didn’t come here legally? You get to be put in a cage.’”
In the comment section of her post, Amber defended all of the people who have appeared on ‘My 600 lb. Life,’ stating that the show’s editing often makes a person look a certain way.
“There are some people from the cast with genuinely unpleasant demeanors but they’re still people and everybody has appreciable traits and intrinsic worth. That should be enough to dictate decency from the world but somehow often isn’t. How real humans are flattened into a single aspect of themselves on the show and treated that way forever is a real problem,” she wrote.
In the caption of the post, Amber told fans the video “was hard to make,” adding, “we all deserve passion and grace.”
Watch Amber’s video below.
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RELATED STORY: ‘My 600-lb. Life’ Season 11 Star Latonya Pottain Dead at 40; Becomes 17th Person from TLC Show to Die
(Photos: Instagram; TLC)
One Response
That was a very thoughtful response.