Luke Deitner doesn’t want to leave his family behind.

The 21-year-old Saskatoon man is 600 pounds. He’s worried he’s on the path to an early death and is hoping an online fundraising campaign will help him pay for bariatric weight loss surgery.

“I’m basically one foot in the grave,” Deitner said. “There’s countless loving family members that, if I don’t do something about this now, I would have to leave behind.”

Deitner has always been overweight. He recalled an incident in grade one in which he had to step on the scale in front of his classmates. He weighed 120 pounds.

“‘Wow. I’m two times the size of everyone in the class,’” he recalled. “That’s the first time I realized I was overweight.”

Deitner typically spends the day on the computer or playing video games. He can’t stand for very long because of the pain in his legs and shortness of breath.

He’s dealt with ridicule his whole life and said he rarely leaves the house because he fears being judged by others.

“It’s gotten to the point where people pull over their vehicle to yell profanities at me,” he said.

Deitner recently reached out to a friend, Tess Boehm, to help him lose weight.

She started an online campaign to raise $30,000 for Deitner to have bariatric surgery, a procedure that would shrink his stomach.

Deitner's hopeful the surgery will help him shed 300 pounds.

"I just want to be healthy, and I know at this weight, I'm nowhere near that goal," he said.

His sister, Kelsi, just wants to see her brother make a positive change in his life.

“It would be awesome to see him go out, get a job, get experience in the world,” she said.

The surgery cannot be performed in Saskatchewan, but Deitner hopes Saskatchewan Health can cover some of the costs. He would likely undergo surgery in Montreal, provided Saskatchewan Health approves the procedure.

If Saskatchewan Health is able to cover some of the surgery’s costs, Deitner will adjust the funding goal.

Boehm said if Deitner cannot have the surgery in Canada, they’d likely go to Brazil.

“Luke will need funds regardless where he goes,” Boehm wrote on the fundraising campaign website.

People looking to donate can visit the campaign site by clicking here.