Morbidly obese French man who weighs 661lbs is lifted out of his house by CRANE after being trapped upstairs for a year following fall
- Alain Panabière has been stranded in his house after a fall over a year ago
- The 53-year-old has since been fed and washed by his brother Jean-Claude
- Today, the French man was moved from his house in Perpignan by a crane
A morbidly obese French man has today been lifted out of his house by a crane after being stranded upstairs for over a year.
Alain Panabière, who weighs 661lbs (300kg), has been trapped on the first floor of his house in Perpignan, southwest France, after a fall in July 2019.
The 53-year-old could not be moved via the staircase because he could not pass through the door of his room due to his size.
Since the fall over a year ago, Alain has been fed and washed by his brother Jean-Claude, and has been sitting on the floor for months after reportedly breaking his leg. But he was finally moved today.
Alain Panabière (centre left), who weighs 661lbs (300kg), has been trapped on the first floor of his house in Perpignan, southwest France, after a fall in July 2019
The morbidly obese French man has today been lifted out of his house by a crane in Perpignan
Since the fall over a year ago, Alain, pictured in his home earlier this year, has been fed and washed by his brother Jean-Claude, and has been sitting on the floor for months after reportedly breaking his leg
The 53-year-old, pictured in his home earlier this year, could not be moved via the staircase because he could not pass through the door of his room due to his size.
A large-scale operation involving more than 50 people, including police, firefighters and medical teams, was under-way today following several weeks of preparation.
A window of Alain’s house was removed next to the street so that the patient could be moved horizontally through the gap onto a gondola suspended from the 100 tonne crane.
He was then lowered down to the ground in a specially-made bed before being transported to a local hospital by a special ambulance.
Measures were taken to not only preserve Alain’s health, but also to ensure the stability of the historic building.
Before the operation was underway, metal posts were placed in the building and the other residents were evacuated. In the street, lamp posts have been removed.
A window of Alain’s house was removed next to the street so that the patient could be moved horizontally through the gap onto a gondola suspended from the 100 tonne crane
The 53-year-old was removed from his home after being stuck there for over a year via a crane
Before the operation was underway, metal posts were placed in the building and the other residents were evacuated. In the street, lamp posts have been removed.
‘We adapt to all kinds of situations. We have already intervened to lift people but never of this corpulence and under these conditions,’ Didier Hugon, the managing director of the crane company told L’Independant.
Firefighters were reportedly fearful that there was a risk of collapse of a floor or the entire building during the intervention as the room located above a garage will have to accommodate six to eight firefighters, a doctor, technicians and equipment, as well as Alain’s.
The major rescue operation was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. But there have been difficulties between the parties involved.
At the end of October this year Alain’s lawyer Jean Codognes filed a complaint to local authorities for ‘non-assistance to anyone in danger’, according to Vosges Matin. The prefecture, in response, reportedly highlighted ‘the uncooperative and volatile behavior of the Panabière brothers’.