A 480-pound Martin County woman has died after emergency workers tried to remove her from the couch where she had remained for about six years.

Gayle Laverne Grinds, 40, died Wednesday, after a failed six-hour effort to dislodge her from the couch in her home. Workers say the home was filthy, and Grinds was too large to get up from the couch to even use the bathroom.

Everyone going inside the home had to wear protective gear. The stench was so powerful they had to blast in fresh air.


Investigators say Grinds lived with a man named Herman Thomas, who says he tried to take care of her the best he could. He has told them he tried repeatedly to get her up, but simply couldn't. No charges have been filed, but officials are looking into negligence issues.

Emergency workers had to remove some sliding glass doors and lift the couch, with Grinds still on it, to a trailer behind a pickup truck. Removing her from the couch would be too painful, since her body was grafted to the fabric. After years of staying put, her skin had literally become one with the sofa and had to be surgically removed.

She died at Martin Memorial Hospital South, still attached to the couch.

Neighbors say they had no idea Grinds lived at the duplex, though they had seen Thomas and some children outside.



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damn.. did she just use the sofa as her toilet as well? . :confused: .hmm

Did she drive an RX-8?

her skin had literally become one with the sofa
EEK! Talk about becoming 'one with yourself'! I wonder if that would happen if I remain attached to a computer for a few years. :D It would be difficult to drive though.

A friend of mine has driven my 8.





He's 450 lbs. THere's actually more room in the drivers seat than the passengers..

So he says.

Did she drive an RX-8?

So sad.

That's terrible! Why are there people that live like that here, in the United States? I wish the best of luck for the family of that woman.

A friend of mine has driven my 8.

He's 450 lbs. THere's actually more room in the drivers seat than the passengers..

So he says.
I can vouch for that. I weigh 365 lbs and I can fit in the driver's seat without a problem. However, the times I've been in the passenger seat, I've been very uncomfortable because there is no up and down adjustment and the hip room is less.

I know someone who is bigger than the woman in the story. Her life is miserable and I feel really bad for her. I could not imagine letting myself get to be that size. It really is a terrible way to live.