Forklift Needed To Remove 900-Pound Man From Home
POSTED: Wednesday, September 19, 2007
UPDATED: 8:22 pm EDT September 19,
2007
LANSING, Mich. -- Lansing firefighters used a forklift to extricate a 900-pound man from the second-floor bedroom of his home.
Rescue workers were called in Tuesday by a visiting nurse, who determined the 33-year-old man needed medical help, Fire Chief Tom Cochran told the Lansing State Journal.
“I have been over here for eight years and I have never known,” said neighbor Cresha Outlaw.
Cochran said the man had not left his home since 2003.
The man's brother, who lives with him, said his brother suffers from Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that creates a chronic hunger feeling that can lead to overeating and life-threatening obesity.
“Everybody said well, he can’t get that food unless you give it to him. Well, wait a minute, he’s got that charge card,” said his brother, Chuck McCaul.
McCaul said he used the charge card to order in food.
The extrication took a little more than three hours.
Rescue workers brought in a telescopic reach forklift, high enough to raise a platform to a hole cut into the wall of the house. They covered the man with a blue tarp to shield him from onlookers and slid the platform onto a flatbed truck for a trip to Sparrow Hospital.
Health officials said he is in stable condition.
“I am going to cross my fingers, and hopefully he can get on some exercise program,” said McCaul.
Copyright 2007 by ClickOnDetroit.com.
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