9 July 2012
Seventeen members of the emergency services were needed to carry a 40-stone woman from her home today.
Suffering breathing difficulties she had to be lifted from the property in Wisborough Road in Selsdon, near Croydon.
Ambulance staff called a fire engine and rescue unit to the scene at 5.45am. The crew supplied a basket stretcher, which was used to move the woman into the ambulance.
One firefighter said: “We did think about taking out a window to get her out. But between the ambulance and ourselves we got her on the stretcher and on to the trolley.
“She was taken in a special ambulance which we had to order and wait for.
“It wasn’t a tricky job but it was delicate, we are finding we are getting more of these calls.”
