KHOU

Renee Williams was 29 years old.

Renee Williams, who weighed 871 pounds before her surgery, died of a massive heart attack at a Houston hospital Sunday night.

The 29-year-old underwent gastric bypass surgery at Houston's Renaissance Hospital on Feb. 20.

She lost 67 pounds in two weeks, and doctors said she was doing well but the heart attack came without warning.

Dozens of other doctors had turned Williams down because of the added risk associated with her size. Hospital officials said Williams and all patients of that body mass index range generally have a seriously compromised cardiovascular system.

But Williams was willing to take her chances.

“Without the surgery there’s 100 percent guarantee I won’t make it," she told 1KHOU-TV before she went into the operating room.

She is believed to be the largest person ever to undergo the surgery.

t took two operating tables to handle her girth.

A surgery that normally takes an hour or two took five.

And patients with a body mass index over 40 are considered morbidly obese.

Renee Williams' BMI was 137.

Before making the trip to Houston, the Austin woman hadn't been outdoors in over a year.

The young mother had hoped the surgery would give her back her freedom and allow her to play with her children again.

Williams had been overweight all of her life.

But things went down hill four years ago when a drunk driver crashed into her SUV, crushing her left leg.

She hadn't been able to walk since then.

She was hoping to lose enough weight to undergo surgery to repair the leg.

“It’s for me but it’s , I want to do it for my daughters also. They already missed out on having their Mom long enough,” Williams said before the surgery.

If Renee Williams had survived the surgery, doctors predicted she would lose up to 650 pounds in three years.