LILLE, France
(Reuters) - A 585-pound French woman who had not left home in six years
was hoisted by crane from her apartment and taken to a hospital, the
local fire department said Monday.
The 49-year-old woman fell ill late Sunday but was too large to be carried
down the winding stairs of her apartment building in the northern town
of Bruay-sur-l'Escaut. It took 30 firemen six hours to extract her from
the second-floor flat.
"After 28
years with the fire department, it's the first time I have taken part
in this kind of operation. We even had to dismantle part of the window
to evacuate the patient," said a Bruay fire service official.
The mother of
four, who suffers from respiratory problems, was taken by fire engine
to a hospital in nearby Valenciennes where she remained in critical
condition.