A crane, a modified goods truck, and over 100 labourers: these are the preparations in place as the city welcomes the world’s heaviest woman. Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, who is 36 and weighs 500 kg, flew in from Egypt in a EgyptAir cargo plane that has been converted into an air ambulance, with oxygen cylinders, ventilator and other emergency equipment.
The Airbus bringing Ms. Ahmad and her sister Shaimaa in landed at the international airport at 4.30 a.m. She was lifted out, bed and all, and put into the truck, which then made its way through the early morning traffic to Charni Road, where it entered Saifee Hospital through a side gate that leads straight to a smaller building that houses the canteen. The first floor has been modified in such a way that there is an open balcony-like space where Ms. Ahmad’s bed could be hoisted by the crane. The bed will then be wheeled into a room — that once housed administrative offices which have been moved elsewhere — customised for what will probably be a stay of a few months at least.
This is the first time Ms. Ahmad has moved out of her home in Alexandria in 20 years, and she is making the trip to have bariatric surgery that will help her lose weight and have a more normal life. “She has never travelled before, and therefore this travel is critical for her,” her surgeon Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala told The Hindu on Friday. “We have taken all the necessary precautions so that she is at ease. Also, we have put her on medication to help some weight loss before she could be brought here. While she has not been weighed again, her family members have told me that she has lost some weight.”
Ms. Ahmad’s family contacted Dr. Lakdawala in October last year, and he agreed to take the case. But since Eman was not able to step out of her house, her medical visa was rejected. On December 5, Dr. Lakdawala tweeted a message to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj: “Ma'am, Eman Ahmed (Egypt) 500 kgs requested me 2 save her pls help me get her a medical visa as refused thru normal process”. Within a day, she was given a medical visa. (Ms. Swaraj tweeted on Friday, “I wish her a successful surgery here.”)
Dr. Lakdawala said that his team of 10 doctors have been in Egypt for the past two weeks, evaluating Ms Ahmad — “She has never been evaluated before” — and that Egypt’s Consul General in Mumbai had also gone there and would be flying back to Mumbai to help with the arrangements. He will prepare the patient for several weeks before she finally goes under the knife.
The entire set of arrangements will cost more than ₹1 crore. Sources told The Hindu that the funds had been raised by Dr. Lakdawala through a ‘Save Eman’ campaign he started, but he refused to divulge the details.
Dr. Lakdawala has earlier operated upon two patients with morbid obesity: a man from China weighing 300 kg and a man from Mumbai weighing 285 kg. But with this case, he will have the eyes of the world on him as never before. Not only is Ms. Ahmad significantly heavier, other surgeons have expressed doubts, saying it is high-risk case and that it would be better to first induce some weight loss by other means before attempting surgery.
