Big Joe gives up KFC

JOELLE DALLY | 29th January 2010

A grossly obese man who had to be forklifted into an ambulance when he required medical assistance says his KFC-eating days are over.

Joe, a 37-year-old taxi driver who did not want his last name published and refused to be photographed, has lost 25kg after two weeks in hospital.

His weight had been estimated as being 250kg, but in fact he weighed in at 280kg on admission.

Speaking to The Star from his hospital room, he said he "felt great" from losing the weight and was determined to trim down.

He said his aim was now to get his weight down to 150kg by the end of the year.

St John Ambulance was called to his address about 8.30pm on January 13. He required their assistance because a knee injury he had suffered in an earlier fall was preventing him from walking.

Paramedics asked firefighters to assist with lifting the man because of his size.

After assessing the situation, the firefighters decided the only safe option was to use a forklift.

Joe was laid on a pallet, and both he and the pallet were placed into the ambulance.

He said he first started to gain weight after he moved to New Zealand from Samoa and gave up playing rugby.

He started to develop bad eating habits after quitting smoking and drinking in 2002 and, combined with not exercising, he began to steadily increase in size, he said.

Joe said being 280kg was uncomfortable and it was difficult to find clothes that fit him.

However, he was not a diabetic and had no heart conditions, he said.

Joe said he had tried to lose weight before, but he had always given up after a few weeks.

On a normal day he would eat leftovers, fish and chips, takeaways and taro at all hours of the day.

"I don't have a plan like breakfast, lunch, dinner. If I want to eat, I will eat," he said.

He said during night shifts he would find himself driving past a KFC outlet and would be unable to resist going into the drive-through and ordering a quarter pack.

But, for now, Joe is on a strict vegetarian diet at hospital, eating only fruit and light meals and doing exercises such as weightlifting and standing.

But he said he has new determination to break his eating habits - mostly for the sake of his wife and four children aged between three and 14, he said.

"This time I will press on, no more quits," he said.

"It's hard, but as long as it's in your heart, you can resist it (food)."

Joe is expected to be able to return home from hospital sometime next week.