Fat Chance

Fire fighters removed the window from a first floor flat to rescue a FORTY STONE man as he was too big to fit down the stairs.

David Bond, 59, who weighed 245kg, had to be lifted to the ground by crews using an aerial ladder in King's Lynn, before being rushed to hospital on Tuesday.

He was hauled to safety by around 20 firefighters and an Urban Search and Rescue team – who had to remove telephone cables to get him out.

Two ambulance crews were called by the man's doctor at around 4pm after he developed breathing difficulties but while they attended he suffered a heart attack.

Four fire crews and a rapid response vehicle rushed to the scene at around 4.20pm and began removing a first floor window as he was too big to lift down the stairs.

He was resuscitated at the scene for 35 minutes and stabilised during the two hour operation before being taken to hospital while fire crews followed – as they were needed to help lift him inside.

One neighbour in the block of six flats, who did not wish to be named, said it took eight to nine firemen to lift him from the platform to the stretcher.

She said: ''There was no way they going to get him down the stairs. He really is quite a big fellow.

''It was a real struggle because they had to work out how they were going to get him out of there.

''They had to secure the fire engine to the ground with bolts and then get up to a window to get him out.

''There were firemen everywhere, it took eight or nine of them just to lift him from the platform to the ambulance. The whole thing lasted about two hours,

''It is very sad, I hope he's going to be ok. He did not look like was in a good way''

She added that he lived on his own but had a friend who came to visit regularly, and happened to be there at the time of the incident.

A spokeswoman for the East of England Ambulance Service said that crews were already attending an urgent call to the property when the man went into cardiac arrest.

She said: ''We received a call from the patient's doctor as he was having breathing difficulties.

''The patient later went into cardiac arrest when we were on the scene.

''We carried out resuscitation for 35 minutes and stabilised the man before he was conveyed to hospital.''

Fire crews also travelled with the ambulance to assist them in getting the man into the hospital where he was admitted in a critical condition.

A spokesman for King's Lynn NHS Trust said: ''A man was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital by ambulance after reports he suffered a cardiac arrest.

''He was admitted to the cardiac care unit on Tuesday, where his condition is critical but stable.

''It is not yet known how long he is likely to be treated and his condition is being monitored.''