Obese woman sticks her skin to the sofa
On August 11, 2004, a Florida woman named Gayle Laverne Grinds died at the age of 40 from obesity, after rescuers and medical teams completely failed in their efforts. It took six hours to separate her skin from the sofa.
Gayle’s skin underneath was stuck to the chair because she’d been lying there motionless for 6 years!
Obese woman died while still stuck on the sofa
According to rescuers, when they entered the house, the scene was like a garbage dump. At that time, Gayle’s weight had reached 217kg. She is unable to stand up, move and do personal hygiene on her own.
The paramedics were called in by Gayle’s brother and his girlfriend. They announced that Gayle was having trouble breathing because of emphysema (a chronic lung disease that makes breathing difficult).
Gayle Laverne Grinds has died at the age of 40 from obesity, after the medical team completely failed in a six-hour effort to separate her skin from the sofa.
Rescue workers must wear protective gear when entering the house. The strong stench made them feel like they lacked oxygen to breathe. According to several reports at the time, the floor and walls of the house were covered with feces, with garbage spread all over the floor.
Herman Thomas (54 years old), the man who lives with Gayle in the apartment, said: “I tried to take care of her the best I could. I tried to help her up, but it was impossible. I wish I could pull her out of the chair. But she wouldn’t let me do it.”
Herman also claimed that Gayle was his wife. However, authorities could not find any records to prove their marriage.
Martin County Fire Chief Jim Loffredo said the street outside the house had been turned into a makeshift construction site during the “operation” to get Gayle out.
Rescuers were forced to use a trailer – connected to a pickup truck – to take Gayle and the sofa to the hospital.
The rescue team is said to have used hammers and chainsaws to build a large wooden stretcher so that firefighters could lift both Gayle’s body and the sofa. In the end, they were forced to knock down the sliding glass door at the back of the house to create a gap large enough about 2m wide to get Gayle out.
“We couldn’t get her into the ambulance.”said Mr. Jim Loffredo.
Rescuers were forced to use a trailer – connected to a pickup truck – to bring Gayle and the sofa to the hospital around 2am.
Gayle took her last breath at 3:12 a.m. while her body was still glued to the sofa at Martin Memorial South Hospital in Florida.
Too many suspicious details
A preliminary autopsy found her death to be due to “obesity” but officials still launched an investigation based on unsanitary scenes in her home.
At the time, Sergeant Janell Atlas of the Martin County Sheriff’s Department said her death was not being treated as suspicious. “But we started an investigation because her living space was so unusual,” he said.
Janell Atlas said detectives were looking for potential “negligence issues” related to Gayle’s care and death.
“We’re used to going to homestays when things are worst… That’s not the point, we’ve been trained for that. But there’s no warning for things like this.”I said.
Jerry Thomas, a neighbor across the street, said he sometimes sees a young girl in the house. But he didn’t know Gayle lived there. Jerry says: “All we knew was that there was an old man there. I don’t know of any woman who lived in that house. Obviously, she’s been lying flat on the couch for a long time.”
Investigators must question how Gayle lived in such conditions without further help from her family or authorities. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) can intervene to help adults who are unable to care for themselves, but DCF officials say they are not aware of the woman’s case. No one informed them before Gayle died.
Source: Mysteriesrunsolved
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