Popular former wrestler Clive Carpenter, 61, who went by the name Car-gantula, was taken ill on Christmas Eve during the fire service strike, died following a rescue operation to free him.
The operation involved four ambulances arriving at his home in a quiet cul-de-sac in Dover, Kent, and nine paramedics working together to try to get him out of the house.
He died in hospital on Boxing Day, two days after the rescue operation.
Clive, a divorcee who lived alone, had diabetes and had not been out of his house for three years, according to neighbours.
His next door neighbour Geraldine Rudge, 63, who was friends with Clive for more than 30 years, explained how the wrestler's daughter Beverley called 999 for help.
She said the first 999 call was made at 5pm on Christmas Eve and he arrived at hospital at 10.20pm that evening - more than five hours later.
She said: 'He was not feeling too good, so his daughter Beverley called the ambulance. She had called round to see him.
'The paramedics weren't happy with his breathing so they wanted to take him into hospital but unfortunately, because he was so big, they had to call for a specialist ambulance.'
The rescue team, which didn't involve firefighters as they were on strike, went inside the three-storey townhouse where they found Clive lying on the floor in the lounge.
Mrs Rudge said: 'He was lying on the floor, he couldn't sit because he was so big. They lifted Clive onto a specialist board, it wasn't a normal stretcher.
'It was like the sort of thing you see in a mountain rescue operation.
'It had a sling and a harness attached to it which helped keep Clive in place on the board so he didn't fall off of it.
'He was a lovely bloke, smashing. Everybody in the neighbourhood knew him'
Clive Carpenter's neighbour, Geraldine Rudge
'But they had to get him down a small flight of stairs which lead from the lounge to the front door. His son Scott was sawing off the banisters to widen the area.
'They also had to remove some panels from either side of the stairway so they could get him out of the house. It just wasn't wide enough because of Clive's size.
'He was lifted over the stairs and then carried out to an ambulance. There were nine ambulance workers involved.'
Mrs Rudge, who was with Clive's two children Beverley, 41, and Scott, 36, when the tragedy happened, said the paramedics had to place him into a specialist larger-size ambulance outside his house.
Mrs Rudge said she believed the popular man died of heart failure.
Clive was a professional wrestler during the 1980s and fought household names of the sport, such as Big Daddy, all over the world.
But when he retired his weight began to gradually increase.
Mrs Rudge added: 'He was already a big guy but when he finished wrestling he became larger and larger. He tried to get help, but he loved his food. He was happy.
'He struggled to move about, he couldn't leave the house. It became worse over the past five years.
'I used to see him every day for a chat and bring him shopping.'
She said he was diagnosed with diabetes about five years ago and last left the house three years ago.
Paying tribute to her friend, Mrs Rudge hailed him as a 'gentle giant'.
She added: 'He was a lovely bloke, smashing.
'Everybody in the neighbourhood knew him. He loved his fishing but hadn't gone out to do that for a long while.'
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