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An obese New Zealand man has found a unique response to his government’s refusal to pay for his weight-loss surgery: he is on a hunger strike.

Jason Patterson, a former surfing instructor, needs a hernia operation, but cannot have one until he loses 110 lbs. He currently weighs 286 lbs.

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The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has agreed to fund his hernia operation, but will not pay for his gastric bypass surgery.

“It’s hopefully going to help me being on a hunger strike to lose weight, because I need to lose weight before I have my hernia operation,” Patterson said to New Zealand’s 3 News.

It’s hopefully going to help me being on a hunger strike to lose weight

A spokesperson for the ACC says that it cannot comment on specific cases due to confidentiality, but explained that the organization covers all injuries as a result of an accident in New Zealand, adding, “we don’t regard putting on weight to be accidental.”

In video diaries uploaded to YouTube, Patterson says he does not overeat, and finds it degrading that people think food is the cause of his weight gain. He says he gained weight after being put on previous medications.