# 600 lb woman dies after being surgically removed from her couch **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 12, 2004, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512 "2004-08-12T08:18:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/21 "2004-08-12T16:09:19Z")
This is a horrible situation, but I can see how she became “bonded” to the couch. She lay there so long that her skin, probably raw and maybe full of bed sores, grew around the fibers of the upholstery. Sort of like how a dog or cat will occasionally grow skin over a tight collar. It’s just sick. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/22 "2004-08-12T16:27:57Z")
Just adding to the no BS vote. I live in Stuart/Jensen Beach and my mother is a nurse at Martin Memorial Hospital. I am probably only 5-10 minutes away from where that woman lived. Sad indeed. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/23 "2004-08-12T16:48:36Z")
Wtf?! ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/24 "2004-08-12T16:57:39Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > No one in this world has to go through anything alone. That’s why we have professional rescuers who can come into a house and move out a person who is trapped on their sofa or their bed. Perhaps they were afraid they couldn’t pay for it. If you call an ambulance, don’t they send you a bill later? ---
**Author:** ![Cockatiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cockatiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cockatiel)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/25 "2004-08-12T17:03:28Z")
“After years of staying put, her skin had literally become one with the sofa and had to be surgically removed.” Sorry to be adding repitition to this thread, but how does that happen?! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/26 "2004-08-12T17:06:22Z")
As a caretaker, I can say with absolute certainty that there is no way in hell that I would allow my charge to get in the shape of the woman in this story. It’s absolutely ridiculous that they allowed the woman to just sit there for however long and didn’t do anything to help her, by either calling a professional, the police, or whatever. It defies comprehension. ---
**Author:** ![Cockatiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cockatiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cockatiel)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/27 "2004-08-12T17:06:42Z")
Agh, missed your post, **photopat** :smack: . Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/28 "2004-08-12T17:47:54Z")
I can’t even begin to imagine the hell this poor woman was living in. My question is how much non-movement does it take to actually grow to the couch?? It seems like she wouldn’t have been able to move at all in any way to get in that condition. Is it possible she was paralyzed? ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/29 "2004-08-12T17:57:04Z")
[Here](http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/martin_stlucie/epaper/2004/08/12/m1a_mcbody_0812.html) is another reputable local paper with a version of this story. So sad. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/30 "2004-08-12T17:58:28Z")
This is what I don’t understand. To fuse with a couch, would you not have to remain perfectly still for an extended amount of time, like a week? Even when I’m laying on the couch I shift slightly, scratch my leg, roll over on my side. How do you remain _perfectly still_ for, I don’t know, over an hour? Also, it’s not like fusing to the couch is a sudden event. . . Nevermind, this make my head want to explode and my stomach lose my lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/31 "2004-08-12T18:03:33Z")
The ultimate Couch Potato. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/32 "2004-08-12T18:11:39Z")
OK, TMI…but here goes… My guess is that the urine and excrement began eating away at her skin (much like a bad diaper rash) and when her skin tried to heal, because she never moved, it healed right into the couch. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/33 "2004-08-12T18:17:41Z")
> [@Bruce\_Daddy](#): > > This is what I don’t understand. To fuse with a couch, would you not have to remain perfectly still for an extended amount of time, like a week? Even when I’m laying on the couch I shift slightly, scratch my leg, roll over on my side. How do you remain _perfectly still_ for, I don’t know, over an hour? > > Also, it’s not like fusing to the couch is a sudden event. . . > > Nevermind, this make my head want to explode and my stomach lose my lunch. I would expect that with that much fat, you can move a little, but the fat is staying in contact with the same areas. That would be my guess. Any scarring/healing would probably hasten the process. ---
**Author:** ![nonpolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@nonpolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonpolar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/34 "2004-08-12T18:18:27Z")
> [@vunderbob](#): > > What is scary is that I can see this happening to my wife (this IS NOT a driveby snotty remark). > > She has chronic health problems, and outweighs me by quite a bit. She uses her weight and health to not have to deal with the outside world, or do anything she doen’t want to do. > > When I have been snotty, I’ve said to her that if anyone ever built a recliner with a refrigerator in one arm, a tv remote in the other, and a toilet underneath, I’d never see her walk again. > . Regarding recliner with built in toilet underneath-Homer Simpson invented it long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![GraphicsGal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@GraphicsGal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraphicsGal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/35 "2004-08-12T18:25:24Z")
This story is just so sad… My Mom has a gal who has been helping with her care for years. This gal’s sister was very large (600+ pounds) and the emergency people had to remove a door frame to get her out of the house. I talked with this gal about her sister and I think what she said is probably pretty typical…they had tried for a long time to get the sister to help herself, but she would not. No one wanted to go outside the family, so the woman lived in squalor until there was a crisis. The family was ashamed of her on the one hand and mad as hell at her on the other hand The situation slowly got worse and worse and no one really looked at the scene with fresh eyes until the crisis came and they were forced to deal with the crisis. At least it seems that this poor soul in Florida was treated with some kindness. There was a case several years ago when a large woman died at home. She happened to be nude at the time. The police dragged her body out onto the street, raided the woman’s refrigerator, encourgaed people to come and look at the corpse, all in front of this woman’s minor child. As a large person myself, I pray that when my time comes, I die at a hospital so as not to risk something like this. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/36 "2004-08-12T18:32:55Z")
> [@SP2263](#): > > What I don’t understand in a lot of these cases is why, if a person cannot get out of bed or off the couch to get their own food, do the caretakers still overfeed them? The minute that ever happened at my house It would be “here’s your vegetables and chicken, you want something else get it yourself”. Yeah, I don’t get this either. You read from time to time about people who are so large they can’t leave their bed (usually not as bad as this case tho’) and I always wonder how it works. If it was my relative or friend, I’d stop bringing them food (actually, I’d bring them healthy stuff in small quantities) until they could get mobile again. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/37 "2004-08-12T18:46:36Z")
> [@nonpolar](#): > > Regarding recliner with built in toilet underneath-Homer Simpson invented it long time ago. That’s a cartoon, not real life. Next? ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/38 "2004-08-12T18:49:35Z")
Disclaimer: the following is in no way intended to minimize the terrible suffering of the human being featured in the linked news story. I am saddened at yet another example of man’s insanity and the damage it can do. However. I’m thinking about getting my butt reupholstered. What do you think? Should I get it done in luxurious velvet, or something more practical, like denim or corduroy? ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/39 "2004-08-12T18:59:12Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > I’m thinking about getting my butt reupholstered. What do you think? Should I get it done in luxurious velvet, or something more practical, like denim or corduroy? I’ve always said that if I won the lottery, I’d get a new butt. This one has a crack in it… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/40 "2004-08-12T19:01:55Z")
This doesn’t suprise me too much. My wife had an aunt that this easily or actually did happen to. She just never got out of bed. She had her kids get her Pepsi and cigarettes. What are they going to tell her? (I know what I would have told her, or anyone else. But I am a notorious asshole in most folks eyes) I suppose she could have moved, but chose not to. She croaked it a few months back. I imagine how this could happen also. We got a guy round here that is about 400 lbs. He rolls around the building in his chair because he is either too lazy, too tired, legs hurt or whatever. I could easily see him one day, at home in bed, and he decides his knees hurt too much to get up. Hell, he hardly ever gets up now. I could easily see him just go to bed one night and have it be a permanent move. (This is the same guy I mentioned in another thread that was argueing with the receptionist that Pork Rinds are not bad for you. :rolleyes: As I type this, he is wolfing down a pizza.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512.md?page=3)