My 600-Lb Life alum Amber Rachdi is speaking out.
And this time, it is not about weight loss.
It is about survival.
And about the many cast members who did not make it.
“I survived. That is privilege.”
Amber, now 35, shared an emotional video on Instagram. A viewer had left a harsh comment asking why she succeeded while others did not.
The message stayed with her.
“My name is Amber, and ten years ago I survived an ordeal,” she said.
“A doctor told me I would not live past 25. I survived. I should feel proud.”
But pride was not the point.
“The worst outcome of my suffering,” she continued, “is when people compare my success to other people’s pain.”
She made one thing clear.
Survival was not earned.
It was luck.
The names she refuses to let people forget
Amber then did something powerful.
She read out the names of fellow My 600-Lb Life cast members who have died.
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. Pauline Potter.
“I have peers and friends who have died,” Amber said.
“And so many of us never got that opportunity.”
Calling out the ‘they did it to themselves’ mindset
Amber did not stop there.
She directly challenged viewers who label cast members as villains.
“It is cruel when people say, ‘You did so well,’ and then say, ‘But I hated so-and-so,’” she said.
“These people are complicated.”
She explained that viewers often decide who deserves compassion and who does not.
And that thinking scares her.
“When we normalize who deserves care,” she warned, “we end up in really dark places.”
She compared fat-shaming to denying medical care or basic humanity.
The message was blunt.
Judgment kills empathy.
From 657 pounds to independence
Amber appeared on the show in 2015 at age 24.
She weighed 657 pounds.
She was nearly housebound.
She believed she would die young.
With the help of gastric bypass surgery and care from Younan Nowzaradan, Amber lost more than 470 pounds.
She learned to drive.
She shopped for herself.
She reclaimed her life.
“I’m no longer Amber of one room, one house,” she once said.
“I’m no longer using food to cope with my anxiety.”
Her message now is bigger than weight loss
Amber made it clear.
She does not want to be a symbol used against others.
Her survival does not make anyone else a failure.
“I’m just lucky,” she said.
“Better supported. Better educated. Better surrounded with care.”
