Obesity is a massive problem in the United States. Thanks to the abundance of unhealthy food that’s far easier to get compared to vegetables and fruits, many Americans now live on greasy, oily fast-food meals. While some people can still manage to control their diet and do regular workouts, there are many who struggle greatly to keep their weight down. In rare cases, a few individuals become so large that they are completely bedridden, and things become even more serious when they need to go to the hospital for a medical emergency. A neighborhood in Florida recently drew quite a bit of attention after a man had to be lifted out of his room using a crane due to a sudden emergency situation. In a short two-minute clip, viewers could see the man being carefully hoisted by a crane while lying on a large wooden plank.
Thick yellow cables were attached to the plank as the machine slowly whirred and lowered the Florida man from the upper floor down to the ground. Once he was safely down, he was taken to a nearby hospital. It’s unclear what specific medical issue required the emergency transport, but there’s no doubt the situation was extremely unpleasant and stressful for the man involved.
Internet users who saw the video were shocked to witness someone needing a crane just to reach a hospital. Others couldn’t help but wonder how the Florida man had gotten so big in the first place. “Who was feeding this guy?” one user asked.
Some people also pointed out how difficult his time at the hospital might be due to his size. “The thing is, if he needs X-rays or an MRI or similar tests, he actually has to go to the zoo. Zoos are usually the only places with equipment large enough to handle that kind of weight,” one commenter wrote.
Another user even shared a personal experience about dealing with a similar case: “I actually had a call like this once where we had to transport a patient in a special ambulance with a center-mounted stretcher. It had a removable ramp and a winch under the chair. We had to take the patient from a small city to the Toronto Zoo because the weight limit for the hospital MRI bed was 600 lbs, and the zoo’s equipment could handle over 1000 lbs. We even needed the fire department on standby to help get the patient in and out of the stretcher and into the MRI. The smell of yeast was extremely potent. It was quite a day as a student!”
However, not everyone found the video entertaining. A number of users criticized the cameraman for recording and uploading the clip, pointing out how stressful and humiliating the situation must have been for the Florida man.
“This doesn’t help,” one Redditor wrote. “Right now, someone else could be going through something similar but might not call for help because they’re scared of ending up on the internet like this poor guy.”
