Obese man may have waited days for help

Fireman had to cut the man out. Photo / Herald on Sunday

A morbidly obese man so big he had to be cut out of his home for hospital treatment could have been lying there for days.

Eight firefighters and three ambulance officers were called on to get the man, who is believed to be in his 50s, out of the second storey of his Rotorua home.

The team lowered the man - estimated by one firefighter to weigh 400kg - to the ground with a forklift after cutting a hole in the wall.

They manoeuvred him to the forklift by dragging him across the ground on a sheet. "We got him on to the back of a truck, which a member of the public kindly offered to drive, because he wouldn't fit in the ambulance," said firefighter Derryn Davidson.

Senior Station Officer Jim Prescott said the man could have been lying on the ground for days after falling and being unable to get up or help himself.

Because he had made his home in a workshop in an industrial area, it was likely no one knew he was there.

"We understand he might have suffered a fall and it could have been a while before someone found him. He wasn't doing very well by the time we got to him and had a limited response. I would say he was heading up towards being 400kg or so. He was very, very large."

The man's brother did not want to talk about his condition when approached yesterday, but said he was "not okay" and was "crook as".

The man is believed to be an engineer and to have been living behind the workshop for several years.

One neighbour, who wanted to be known only as Bill, said the man had to customise his car to make the seats big enough.

Another neighbour said he hadn't seen the man since last year. "He tends to keep to himself and is a bit of a recluse.

"He's a very big boy - as well as being large he's also very tall, over six feet.

"He was an engineer a while back but I don't know what he's doing these days," the neighbour said.

"I've heard he's a very clever man and was good at his job."

Lakes District Health Board spokeswoman Sue Wilkie said the man was still in Rotorua Hospital and his family did not want any information about him released, including his condition.

Prescott said firefighters were often asked to help shift obese people to hospital.

Hawke's Bay police said last night they needed Fire Service help to remove the body of a Hastings man from his home yesterday morning.

That man was estimated to weigh 180-200kg.