SIBU: He was so huge that he needed 20 people to carry him to and from a five-tonne lorry to the Emergency and Trauma Depart-ment of the hospital.

Family members reached out to the Fire and Rescue Department for help when 33-year old Sia Chie Herng, who weighs 250kg, experienced chest pain and difficulty in breathing at about 10.20am yesterday.

His legs were also swollen and he was unable to urinate for the past few days.

He needed help to be sent to the hospital from his house in Ulu Sungai Merah.

“When we arrived there an hour later, the man was lying down in the living room and unable to move,” said Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department assistant director of operation Farhan Sufyan Borhan.

In the first attempt to move Sia, seven firemen and two paramedic staff members tried to lift him into the ambulance but he was just too big.

“We quickly sent our five-tonne lorry to the scene,” he said.

“It took us more than 30 minutes to carry him from the house to the lorry, using a thick cloth and hardwood as support,” Farhan added.

They reached the hospital about 11km away at 1pm.

At the hospital, 12 people, including firemen, hospital staff and Malaysian Defence Force personnel laboured for more than 10 minutes to shift him from the lorry to the stretcher.

Sia’s mother said he was the younger of her two children.

“Though he is heavy, previously he could move around slowly with the help of a tetrapod.

“However, his health deteriorated during the last three to four days and he needed to be confined to the bed,” she said.