660-Pound Man Hoisted to Hospital by Crane

Reuters ^ | 3/14/3

[Carpet Kitten]

Firemen in Germany had to use a 38.5-toncrane to hoist a German man weighing 660 pounds out of his apartment and take him to hospital, the fire brigade in the northern city of Hamburg said on Monday.

"Because the man was so heavy, we couldn't carry him on one of the normal stretchers, so we had to use the crane," said Hamburg fire brigade spokesman John Ralfs.

Ten firemen were needed to lift the 63-year-old man onto a hospital bed placed inside a large industrial container, which the crane had hoisted level with his first-floor balcony.

The crane then lowered the container to the ground and the man was wheeled off it, jacked into an ambulance van and taken to hospital.

[Carpet Kitten]

Richard Simmons is on his way to Germany as we speak.

[Black Agnes]

ping! Timely article.

[Mark17]

Would it be an understatement to say he needs to drop a few pounds?

[presidio9]

LOL, look at the next thread on the list (which has been pulled).

[thoughtomator]

Wonder if he has to pay for the crane rental.

I work in midtown NYC so I see a good deal of people with wheelchairs. It makes me sad to see that people have injuries that require the use of chairs. But yesterday coming home from work I saw a woman in a wheelchair who was unmistakably in one because she was too tremendously huge to move her enormous, bloated mountain of mass... and damn, that was just gross. It is nearly certain that I as a taxpayer am subsidizing that chair, and that's offensive.

[Petronski]

I guess that CA lawyer is right....

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

In a related event, the man's lawyer filed a lawsuit with McDonald's.

[E Rocc]

What was he doing in Germany, researching a sequel to "Roger and Me" about VW?

-Eric

[SquirrelKing]

Would it be an understatement to say he needs to drop a few pounds?

Are you kidding? Do you KNOW what kind of damage that'll cause?

[gubamyster]

I didn't know Michael Moore was in Germany.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Ever seen "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"? Kind of a strange movie, but in the end, his morbidly obese mother dies in an upstairs bedroom and after the sheriff and coroner leave, instead of letting his mother's death become a circus with cranes and such, he simply empties the house of all the furniture and burns it.

One of the few decent movies Johnny Depp made.

[never4get]

Are they sure that wasn't Star Jones?

[r9etb]

I saw a woman in a wheelchair who was unmistakably in one because she was too tremendously huge to move her enormous, bloated mountain of mass...

Just out of curiosity: was it an extra-special industrial strength chair?

[mad puppy]

Just out of curiosity: was it an extra-special industrial strength chair?

There is a guy who goes to my Church that sits in what I'll simple call a 'double wide'. The guy probably goes about 400 lbs, maybe 450. He has made and lost millions, buried a couple kids, and got seriously goof'd up by him time in V'nam and having to watch J. Fonda wiggle and giggle on a tank. Grossly overweight? Yes. But what a life.

[FITZ]

It is timely ---I wonder who was paying for his food and who was running out getting his groceries for him.

[FITZ]

And who pays his hospital bill. At least this is one for the German taxpayers.

[LizardQueen]

I always wonders who buys the food for these people. There was a case in NY (Walter Hudson? That guy that Dick whatisname, celebrity diet doc went there to cure?) where he was eating a whole chicken at a time for dinner, etc. yet couldn't get out of the house to do the shopping. His relatives were buying it and letting him eat it all.

If it were me feeding a relative of that size, I'd be portioning out that chicken a wing at a time.

LQ

[LizardQueen]

Dick Gregory was docs name, of course I remembered it only after I hit Post.

LQ

[July 4th]

Someone that size could probably get a daily hay delivery. Maybe a 40 pound sack or so would be sufficient.

[ThomasMore]

The crane then lowered the container to the ground and the man was wheeled off it, jacked into an ambulance van and taken to hospital.

When they reached the hospital, they only had use of a smaller crane. The results were disastrous!