Firefighters smash through building walls to rescue 50st man having heart attack

16 January 2023 , 21:47

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A man weighing nearly 50st had to be pulled to safety down a ramp after fire fighters knocked down a wall (Image: UkNewsinPictures)

Firefighters had to smash down building walls in a 17-hour operation to rescue a morbidly obese man suffering from a heart attack.

Crews spent a full day trying to reach the man who was barricaded inside the first floor London flat.

The struggle, estimated to have cost £10,000, ended in the 47st man being rescued via a makeshift ramp.

A team of around 25 firefighters, 15 paramedics and five police officers were called to the block in West London on Friday, with the mission starting in the early hours following a 999 call at around 3am.

The crew also called in an urban search and rescue team who normally deal with rescuing people from collapsed buildings.

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A team of more than 50 people were called to join the efforts (UkNewsinPictures)

Medics were first on the scene in the small hours, but were forced to call in a team from London Fire Brigade to help the man out of the building.

The operation didn't end until 8pm and resulted in a wall being knocked down before the man was pulled from the building using ropes and a plywood ramp.

He was then hoisted into the back of an ambulance and taken to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington.

Emergency services built a makeshift ramp from plywood to pull the man free from the building (UkNewsinPictures)

Residents, who named the man only as Manuel, told how their neighbour had previously needed assistance getting out of the building.

He'd reportedly been waiting for months to go to hospital.

Vernon Bannister, 74, told The Sun: "Last time I went in he had the biggest TV I have ever seen.

"This is the third time they’ve tried to take him - the last time the bed broke.

The man was eventually taken to hospital in Paddington (UkNewsinPictures)

"Now they’ve had to take half the building apart.

"There’s other people in this building that are sick and they have to pay for it."

The huge-scale rescue mission, known as a 'bariatric rescue', is one of dozens made in recent years to help people entrapped in homes and buildings due to their weight.

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Susie Beever