400-pound man rescued after he plunges through floor of mobile home

Sun-Sentinel
Posted October 16 2003, 7:10 AM EDT

NEW PORT RICHEY -- A Pasco County man who became trapped in his mobile home when the floor gave way under him was rescued by emergency workers.

The manager of the mobile home park found the man, who reportedly weighed 400 pounds, on Wednesday.

``There he was in that little bedroom sitting in a little hole,'' said Gene Morton, of Orangewood Lakes Mobile Home Community.

Morton identified the man as George Daniels, 61, and said he found Daniels conscious but disoriented, sitting with his head bowed. Morton said Daniels told him he had been stuck for two days, though emergency responders weren't so sure.

``They would ask him one time and he'd say a day,'' said James Higgins, a Pasco County Fire Rescue battalion chief. ``They'd ask him another time and he'd say he had been there for an hour.''

It took about eight rescue workers to get Daniels out of the home in a stretcher, Morton said. ``He's one big man,'' he said.

The floor boards in Daniels' home may have rotted underneath the carpet, Morton said.

Morton called 911 after getting a call from one of the man's neighbors, who had known Daniels was stuck for some time but waited to call for help, he said.

One neighbor, 80-year-old Warren Conklin, said he checked on Daniels earlier Wednesday.

``I didn't know he was stuck in there,'' the neighbor said. ``It looked like he was just sitting there.''

Conklin said he asked Daniels if he wanted him to call someone.

``He said, `No, no, I'll get up myself,''' Conklin said.