SIBU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A man in Malaysia is so huge that he needed 20 people and a lorry to move him from home to the hospital when he fell sick.

Family members of 33-year-old Sia Chie Herng, who weighs 250kg, contacted the Fire and Rescue Department for help when he experienced chest pain and difficulty in breathing at about 10.20am on Wednesday (Sept 21).

Mr Sia's legs were also swollen and he was unable to urinate for the past few days.

He needed help to be taken to the hospital from his house in Ulu Sungai Merah.

"When we arrived there an hour later, the man was lying down in the living room and unable to move," said Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department's Assistant Director of Operation Farhan Sufyan Borhan.

In the first attempt to move Mr Sia, seven firemen and two paramedics tried to lift him into the ambulance but he was just too big.

"We quickly sent our 5-tonne lorry to the scene," Mr Farhan said. "It took us more than 30 minutes to carry him from the house to the lorry, using a thick cloth and hardwood as support," he added.

They reached the hospital about 11km away at 1pm.

At the hospital, 12 people, including firemen, hospital staff and Malaysian Defence Force personnel, laboured for more than 10 minutes to shift him from the lorry to the stretcher.

Mr Sia's mother said he was the younger of her two children.

"Though he is heavy, previously he could move around slowly with the help of a tetrapod.

"However, his health deteriorated during the last three to four days and he needed to be confined to the bed," she said.