Saudi man weighing 96 stone forklifted to hospital

A Saudi man weighing 96 stone has been airlifted to hospital after the king of the Gulf state offered to pay for him to receive expert treatment. Weighing around 1,345 pounds (610kg), he is thought to be the second heaviest man ever recorded. On the request of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, Mr Shaeri will be receiving expert medical attention at one of the kingdom’s best hospitals. 

Unable to move, Mr Sharei has been bed-bound for two and a half years, during which time his weight has increased dramatically.

 Part of the building where Mr Shaeri lived had to be demolished so that he could be wheeled onto a forklift truck. He was then driven to a specially equipped military plane sent by King Abdullah. The King is also covering the costs of Mr Shaeri’s medical treatment at King Medical City in the Saudi capital.His treatment had been delayed for six months while a specially made bed was built for him in the US. 

Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabee, said: “It is really a humanitarian gesture from the King to order the transfer and treatment of the patient.”

“Once the ministry received the royal order it formed a medical team specialised in intensive care to work out the best plan to transfer the case to Riyadh and handle it as best as possible medically.”

 The country's Health Ministry has recently dealt with a number of obesity cases. Last Saturday the ministry reported that a 27-year-old patient had been successfully treated with a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.Earlier in the year two obese siblings, weighing 770 and 660 pounds received medical attention in Saudi Arabia. 

The record for the heaviest man ever recorded is held by an American, Jon Brower Minnoch. He weighed 1,400 pounds (635kg), another 55 pounds more than Mr Shaeri.
source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/saudiarabia/10254371/Saudi-man-weighing-96-stone-forklifted-to-hospital.html