1,200-Pound Man Needed Crane, Cargo Container, And Flatbed Truck To Switch Nursing Homes
Obesity is complicated. Brian Butler, one of the most obese people on the planet, at 1,000 pounds, was moved from Providence, R.I., to Cranston via crane, cargo container, and flatbed truck in a massive and complicated process.
Butler had lived at the Bannister House in Providence, but when the nursing home announced this month that due to being in $2 million of debt it would be closing down, all the patients had to move to new facilities.
The process of moving Butler involved a collaboration between the Providence and Cranston Fire Departments and the Hospital Association of Rhode Island and Bay Crane Northeast. A crane was used to lift Butler from a deck at the 4-story nursing home, then bring him back to the ground, where he was placed in a flatbed truck. It took seven hours to move the 1,000-pounder from Bannister House to Eleanor State Hospital.
“This is a patient with very complicated medical needs and it required a coordinated approach,” Michael Raia of the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health & Human Services told NBC 10. “His care and safety has been our top priority throughout this transport.”
Butler had been at the nursing home for nearly a decade, during which he gained some 300 pounds. In an interview with NBC 10 in 2006, Butler noted that he had struggled with eating problems. “When I’m depressed I’ll eat chips or order myself a large pizza and pretty much kill it myself,” he said.
One in three adults in the U.S. are obese, and the majority of people who make up the list of heaviest people on the planet are American.
