Obese man with multiple health issues faces eviction from Sunnyvale home

SUNNYVALE, Calif. (KGO) -- A 67-year-old South Bay man is facing eviction next week and has few options for a new place to live.

Randy Heath says the problem is his weight. Shelters and other facilities just can't handle a man weighing close to 500 pounds. He has been evicted from a house where he has been living for 14 years. He's packing up the kitchen, but he has no idea where he's moving.

"If need be, I can find a place to make a tent or something, or sleep on the ground if I have to," Heath said. "That's what I'm going to have to do."

The landlord died, and the attorney for the trust says the house needs to be sold to satisfy estate obligations. The attorney also says Heath hasn't paid rent in four years.

But health issues are making it difficult to find another place to live. Heath weighs 477 pounds. He has diabetes, sleep apnea and he needs knee replacement.

A patient advocate says there just aren't facilities tailored for his special needs.

"You can't send him to a shelter because there are no beds for him that fit him," said Tim Aukofer, a patient advocate. "There are no bathrooms that fit him. The staff doesn't have the liability for it. The agency doesn't have the training. There's no funding."

Heath does have a family, twin sons. One lives in Minnesota and the other is in Oklahoma. However, he would prefer not to rely on them.

"If I have to, which would cost me more money than I've got, is pack up my truck and go live with one of my sons 'cause I'm pretty sure either one of my sons would take me in," Heath said. "But I don't want to do that. No parent wants to fall back on their kids."

His friend, John Way, is willing to help buy or rent a house to share with heath. However, with both men in wheelchairs and needing parking spaces for trucks with lifts, their search has been difficult.

"We've spent probably $300 just in fuel to take Randy around and look at different places in Clear Lake and Copperopolis, and we haven't found anything that fits the need at this point," Way said.

Eviction day is set for next Tuesday.