For First Time in Three Years, Thai Woman Weighing 600 Pounds Leaves Home

For the first time in three years, a Thai woman weighing over 600 pounds and suffering from a tumor in a her right leg, left her third floor studio apartment on the outskirts of Bangkok with the help of a forklift.

According to The Telegraph, neighbours gathered on the pavement below the apartment building as 40-year-old Umnuayporn Tongprapai was lowered down.

She smiled and flashed a 'V' for victory sign as she was lowered from the apartment by an elevator constructed outside.

Neighbours of Tongprapai contacted the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority when they learned she needed medical attention to remove the tumor.

Bangkok's governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra summoned camera crews to document the event, which involved engineers, demolition crews, rescue workers, doctors and nurses.

Umnuayporn said she could only walk a few feet on her own and was confined to her studio apartment where she ran a laundry service with the help of her two adopted sons.

"I've been living in this room and have not gone outside for three years," she said. "I can walk a little, just enough that I can go to bathroom. But I have to cling to my son the whole way," she said.

"It's very likely that she is the heaviest person in the country," said Pijaya Nagavachara, director of the BMA General Hospital, which weighed her once she was admitted.

Source: ANI