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600-Pound Woman Dies After Being Surgically Removed From Couch

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by moestavern19, Aug 11, 2004.

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  1. moestavern19

    moestavern19 Member

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    600-Pound Woman Dies After Being Surgically Removed From Couch

    POSTED: 3:48 pm EDT August 11, 2004
    UPDATED: 5:09 pm EDT August 11, 2004

    STUART, Fla. -- A dramatic rescue ended tragically in Stuart, Florida, a rescue so difficult firefighters say they have never seen anything like it.

    It happened late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning at the home of a 600-pound woman who was having trouble breathing. Rescuers went in not knowing how difficult it would be to get her out. 40-year-old Gail Grinds was literally stuck to her couch and had to be removed surgically at the hospital.

    Authorities estimate she had been on the couch anywhere from two to five years.

    Martin County Fire amd Rescue crews faced what seemed to be an impossible mission. Everyone going inside had to wear protective gear. The stench was so powerful they had to blast in fresh air.

    They tried to cut out the front door, but at four-and-a-half feet wide, it wouldn't work. They had to cut plywood since a normal stretcher wouldn't do.

    An ambulance was too small, so they brought in a trailer to get her out. While rescue crews came up with a back-door rescue plan, detectives secured what had become a crime scene, questioning family members about how it got so bad.

    Using planks, they loaded the woman on to the trailer, still attached to the couch. Removing her would be too painful, since her body is grafted to the fabric. After years of staying put, her skin has literally become one with the sofa and it must be surgically removed.

    Detectives are investigating whether they have a case of neglect, or if it is simply a very sad story.

    Grinds was taken to the Martin Memorial hospital where doctors removed her from the couch, but she died in spite of all the attempts to save her life.

    Copyright 2004 by wftv.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


    wow, sad. :eek:
     
    #1 moestavern19, Aug 11, 2004
  2. Behad

    Behad Member

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    Wow!

    Um.....wow!
     
    #2 Behad, Aug 11, 2004
  3. rockHEAD

    rockHEAD Member

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    :eek: NO WAY!!! :eek:
     
    #3 rockHEAD, Aug 11, 2004
  4. Puedlfor

    Puedlfor Member

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    That's gotta be a hoax.
     
    #4 Puedlfor, Aug 11, 2004
  5. glad_ken

    glad_ken Member

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    How did she go to the bathroom?
     
    #5 glad_ken, Aug 11, 2004
  6. rockHEAD

    rockHEAD Member

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    dude, click the link, there's a freakin' picture!

     
    #6 rockHEAD, Aug 11, 2004
  7. BobFinn*

    BobFinn* Member

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    They should film these things and start a REAL reality tv series, instead of the fake crap they have on.
     
    #7 BobFinn*, Aug 11, 2004
  8. across110thstreet

    across110thstreet Member

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    this guy would be the star


    Half-ton man drops 321 pounds, and still counting
    Admitted to hospital weighing more than 1,000 pounds

    SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota (AP) -- A man who once weighed more than half a ton has lost 321 pounds under the care of a team of doctors and hopes to lose 450 pounds more.

    Patrick Deuel, 42, of Valentine, Nebraska, weighed 1,072 pounds when he was admitted to Sioux Falls' Avera McKennan Hospital eight weeks ago. Deuel, who is just under 6 feet tall, is on a 1,200 calorie-a-day diet.

    "If we hadn't gotten him here, he'd be dead now," said Fred Harris, Deuel's lead doctor.

    The former restaurant manager has been bedridden since last fall. He has battled heart failure, thyroid problems, diabetes, pulmonary hypertension and arthritis, and needed help just to roll over in bed.

    "Until recently, I wasn't able to see any light at the end of the tunnel," he said Monday from his hospital bed.

    A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed.

    According to the Guinness World Records Web site, the record for heaviest man in the world is 1,397 pounds, held by Jon Brower Minnoch of Bainbridge, Washington, who died in 1983.

    Deuel, who has battled weight problems all his life and blames his condition in part on genetics, said it took months to find a hospital. Hospitals closer to his home balked at admitting him, he said.

    "I got scared because I couldn't help him anymore, and I didn't know who would help him," said his wife, Edith.

    Harris said Deuel's care could cost millions of dollars, much of which the hospital may have to cover. Officials found a special ambulance, and hospital workers joined two beds to accommodate Deuel.

    One of Deuel's goals is to walk out of the hospital. He also wants to go to a Nebraska Cornhuskers football game, and just take a walk with his wife.

    "Even though he's faced negativity all these years, he's not a negative person," Edith Deuel said. "He's almost always been able to stay bubbly and make jokes and be happy."



    [​IMG]
     
    #8 across110thstreet, Aug 11, 2004
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2004
  9. m_cable

    m_cable Member

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    Are you sure you didn't get this link from WTF-TV.com :eek:
     
    #9 m_cable, Aug 11, 2004
  10. daNasty

    daNasty Member

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    Jesus, how the heck does you skins hold all that up. UGH! More then a year on teh couch? There's something wrong there. You can't really blame the people who looking after her because I just can't imagine having to find a way to clean her if she cant go to the washroom.
     
    #10 daNasty, Aug 11, 2004
  11. drapg

    drapg Member

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    I forget what quote this movie is from... but it fits well here...

    Paraphrased: "Some people say good for them for losing all that weight. I say, how the hell did they get that fat in the first place? Shame on them."
     
    #11 drapg, Aug 11, 2004
  12. AntiSonic

    AntiSonic Member

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    I'm going jogging first thing tomorrow morning. :eek:
     
    #12 AntiSonic, Aug 11, 2004
  13. Oski2005

    Oski2005 Member

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    Time to hit the exercise bike.
     
    #13 Oski2005, Aug 11, 2004
  14. DieHard Rocket

    DieHard Rocket Member

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    Geez. I don't know if I believe this or not. I really don't want to believe it.

    Has anyone seen "What's eating Gilbert Grape"? Remember the large woman in that movie...it's been a while since I saw it, but didn't they have to get a crane or something to lift her out? That is what this article reminds me of.
     
    #14 DieHard Rocket, Aug 11, 2004
  15. Major Malcontent

    Major Malcontent Member

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    Is it just me...or is drapg, just not a big fan of myself and my fellow lardo's.

    Cause skinny people are just better human beings overall I guess :p
     
    #15 Major Malcontent, Aug 12, 2004
  16. francis 4 prez

    francis 4 prez Member

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    nothin' says dignity like getting weighed on a livestock scale.
     
    #16 francis 4 prez, Aug 12, 2004
  17. francis 4 prez

    francis 4 prez Member

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    i wonder if drapg believes that quote. i would hope not.
     
    #17 francis 4 prez, Aug 12, 2004
  18. IROC it

    IROC it Member

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    Looks "bubbly" to me.



    And I don't care who you are... this link to a video of break dancers "breakin'" for the Pope is ill .

    [​IMG]
     
    #18 IROC it, Aug 12, 2004
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2004
  19. drapg

    drapg Member

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    I do believe that quote. 100%.

    As a former "lardo" gone straight, I have no pity for other lardo's.
     
    #19 drapg, Aug 12, 2004
  20. MadMax

    MadMax Member

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    NO WAY!!!! :eek:

    [​IMG]
     
    #20 MadMax, Aug 12, 2004
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