The story of a chip shop worker who stunned the world 44 years ago after surviving for almost 400 days without eating food has been immortalised as a cartoon character.
Angus Barbieri shed 21 stone after tipping the scales at 33st 10lb in 1965.
The Fife man’s remarkable transformation has been turned into a cartoon by YouTube channel Bright Side.
The 10-minute video has been watched more than 300,000 times since being uploaded.
Part of the video’s description includes a warning of the dangers of such extreme dieting.
It documents the then 27-year-old’s exploits as he checked himself into Maryfield Hospital in 1965.
The Tayport native would spend the next year embarking on one of the most unconventional methods of dieting ever seen.
He defied doctors’ orders and refused to consume food for 392 days, surviving on tea, coffee, water and vitamins.
His headline-making fast ended when he enjoyed a single boiled egg with bread and butter – his first solid meal in more than a year.
Bright Side explained his efforts were nothing short of “astounding”.
Australian author Dr Karl Kruszelnicki explained during a radio interview in 2012 the chemical process that could help him combat starvation.
The doctor said that after two or three days of starvation the body’s fat can be transformed into glucose to cure the hunger cravings.
Despite theories to represent his incredible achievement, Angus was heralded as a “medical anomaly”.
He went on to raise two sons, later moving to Warwick.
He died in September 1990.
