40 stone stroke victim rescued with a 100ft crane

A 40-stone stroke victim was rescued with a 100ft crane after he collapsed in his apartment but was too fat for paramedics to fit him in the lift.

"He was simply too heavy to carry down 10 flights of stairs so we had to call in the fire brigade because their hoists have a lifting weight of five tons," said one paramedic in Bad Vibel, Germany.



The crane - normally used for lifting cars and trucks after road crashes - winched stricken Martin Melber, 61, down from the 10th floor apartment to a waiting specially strengthened ambulance.

"It was clearly the first time the man had left his apartment in years. He'd been trapped up in that tower by his own physical condition," said one fire fighter.