Forklift Gets 900-Pound Man From Bedroom

Firefighters cut a hole in the side of a house and used a forklift to extricate a 900-pound man from his second-floor bedroom after a visiting nurse became worried about his health.

Rescue workers were called in Tuesday by the nurse, who determined the 33-year-old man needed medical help, Fire Chief Tom Cochran said.

Cochran said the man had not left his home since 2003. The man's brother said the victim did computer work from his home. Neither man was identified by local media.

The brother, who lives with him, said he suffers from Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that creates a chronic hunger feeling that can lead to overeating and life-threatening obesity.

"He's a very nice person," neighbor Kathy Leslie told the Lansing State Journal. About 50 people watched the operation.

Rescue workers brought in a forklift, high enough to raise a platform to a hole cut into the wall of the house about the width of two doors. 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.

"It doesn't happen often, but we have had to extricate people in situations like this," Fire Chief Tom Cochran told the newspaper.

The rescue took just over three hours.

A hospital spokeswoman said Sparrow has a special lift to transfer heavy patients from a gurney to a bed, and a special bed that can hold up to 1,000 pounds.