By: Brianna Zhang

Imagine eating tons of food every day for years and staying healthy. Australian man James Webb is famous for eating pounds of food and remaining fit. A long time ago, Webb was not a competitive eater but a professional soccer player. When he was 27, Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) struck him, sending him to the hospital for more than 18 months. The disease caused paralysis so he couldn’t move or breathe by himself. To breathe normally, he had to wear a ventilator. Later, he developed cataracts that caused him to lose his eyesight, and also stopped him from playing soccer. With the help of eye surgery and other treatments, Webb recovered his eyesight and started to walk and breathe without a ventilator. Now he is still healthy, thanks to regular exercise in the gym. The idea to become an eater came to him at a Cessnock restaurant, where he ate a five-pound burger that 55 people failed to eat. Webb suddenly became famous. He ate 38 pancakes in one hour in Brisbane and slurped up 17 sausage sizzle sandwiches in three minutes in Melbourne. He also finished a 3.5-pound doughnut in under 20 minutes in Toowoomba, and ate 47 hotdogs in 10 minutes in New York. Webb accomplished his mission to become a competitive eater.