Free Republic

480-Pound Woman Dies After Six Years On CouchPOSTED: 3:48 pm EDT August 11, 2004UPDATED: 10:33 am EDT August 12, -- 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. 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. A preliminary autopsy on the the four-foot, ten-inch woman lists the cause of death...

STUART, Fla. -- A dramatic rescue ended tragically in Stuart, Florida, a rescue so difficult firefighters say they have never seen anything like it. It happened late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning at the home of a 600-pound woman who was having trouble breathing. Rescuers went in not knowing how difficult it would be to get her out. 40-year-old Gail Grinds was literally stuck to her couch and had to be removed surgically at the hospital. Authorities estimate she had been on the couch anywhere from two to five years. Martin County Fire amd Rescue crews faced what seemed...

Johnny Depp is feeling patriotic - about France. The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star slammed the United States over Iraq in an interview in the German magazine Stern this week. "America is dumb, is something like a dumb puppy that has big teeth - that can bite and hurt you, aggressive," he was quoted as saying. Depp lives in France with the French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis, with whom he has two children. He said he was delighted when he saw that French fries had been rechristened "freedom fries" in the U.S. Capitol canteen. "Nothing made me happier than...