Video shows firefighters use CRANE to evict morbidly obese woman from her flat…because she’s too big to get out the door
FIREFIGHTERS have had to deploy a crane to evict a morbidly obese woman who had been illegally squatting in a flat in Palma.
Upon removal, Antònia Jover Fiol, the bedridden tenant of a flat in s’Arenal, was admitted to Son Llàtzer Hospital for a medical examination.
The removal operation proved so difficult that the National Police, Local Police, Palma Town Hall social services and Public Health service had to collaborate with the firefighters.
Palma’s fire brigade revealed that the “important deployment” had been scheduled by a court for 9.30am – but wasn’t completed until just before midday.
The firefighters also added that an eviction usually takes 20 minutes and is never this complex.
Eder García, the head of Palma’s Fire Department, said that Fiol had been in a lot of pain, adding that he was worried about her health.
He said: “She was nervous and needed painkillers.
“In this type of mobilisation there may be a risk of a heart attack.”
He added that the morbidly obese woman was completely dependent on a respirator, and said she could barely move at all.
It has since emerged that Fiol had failed to pay both her rent and the community fees for over three years.
The family had lived in the property for eight years.
Xisco, the current owner of the apartment, told Ultima Hora that the lack of payment caused him and his family a great deal of stress.
He revealed that Fiol and her family had been asked to leave in October 2020, and simply refused to do so.
By the time Xisco reported the family, in September 2021, they had already racked up a staggering debt of €10,000.
Xisco added: “My mother continues to pay the community for the building because they didn’t do that either.”
Prior to this eviction, there had been three other unsuccessful attempts to remove the family.
The family had also been offered a residence from the City Council’s social services – although this was denied.
Fiol’s son Miguel has shared how his mother’s poor financial decisions led her and the family into the vulnerable state they are in now.
Fiol had been a prominent businesswoman who had owned a glassware company, and even presided over the Playas Arenal Sports Club between 1984 and 2000.
Miguel revealed that ill health befell her in 1996, and her money management seriously deteriorated afterwards.
The poor woman suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and has had to undergo six separate operations.
According to Miguel, the family decided to stop paying rent after they were informed by the Palma Anti-Eviction Office that they would be evicted eventually.
Miguel said: “We decided not to pay so we could save something.”
He added that his parent’s pensions amount to around €2,000 a month, but laments that this is hardly enough for an apartment.
He said: “They ask us to earn between €3,000 and €3,500 per month.”
Although, Xisco confirmed that the rent the family were being charged was just €600 per month.
Xisco added that he had been unaware of Fiol’s medical condition, and only found out after watching the firefighter’s eviction.
Fiol will stay in Son Llàtzer Hospital for the time being – to be treated for her obstructive pulmonary disease.
While Fiol’s husband Julian and her son Miguel have both been relocated to a hostel in Secar de la Real.
It’s not the first time a morbidly obese person has had to be removed from their home via a crane so that they could receive medical treatment.
Back in 2017, 78-stone Eman Ahmed was lifted out of her home in Alexandria by a crane and flown by a special cargo plane to India to have life-saving surgery.
Ahmed was born weighing nearly one stone and was diagnosed with elephantiasis- parasitic infection – which causes extreme swelling in a person’s limbs and arms.
By the time she turned 11, she was too heavy to support her weight standing up, and resorted to crawling in the house on her knees.
After suffering paralysis and being bedridden for some years, Indian obesity surgeon Dr Muffazal Lakdawala eventually offered to carry out the procedure free of charge.
In 2020, 50-stone Jason Holton had to be hoisted out of his flat in Surrey by a crane after developing a serious takeaway food addiction.
In an emotional interview from his hospital bed, Jason told The Sun: “I had eaten to a point where I suddenly couldn’t move an inch.
“And I was happy to stay there without calling for help.
“I left myself to die and waited for my heart to give up. I felt there was nothing left in life for me.”
But he eventually called the emergency services and was removed from his two-bed flat — where his condition had trapped him for more than five years.
WHICH ARE THE WORLD'S FATTEST COUNTRIES?
THE study published in The Lancet ranked 200 countries by their obesity rates in 2022. Most of the nations with the heftiest adults are in the Pacific Islands, near Australia. Here are the rankings:
10 COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST OBESE MEN
- American Samoa
- Nauru
- Tokelau
- Cook Islands
- Niue
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Samoa
- French Polynesia
- USA
10 COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST OBESE WOMEN
- Tonga
- American Samoa
- Samoa
- Tokelau
- Tuvalu
- Cook Islands
- Nauru
- Niue
- Egypt
- Micronesia