Having undergone a weight-reduction procedure at Saifee Hospital here for the past two-and-a-half months, the once world’s heaviest woman from Egypt Eman Ahmed Abdelaty will fly on an Egypt Special Airbus 300 to Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
36-year-old Eman, who had been flown to Mumbai by an Egypt Air fully-equipped cargo flight from Alexandria on February 11 to undergo weight-reduction procedure at the Saifee hospital here, will travel in a customised aircraft to Abu Dhabi, where she will be admitted to Burjeel Hospital for rehabilitation and further weight loss treatment.
Informed sources said that Eman would be taken in a special ambulance from the Saifee hospital to the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIS).
Unlike what had happened upon arrival in Mumbai on February 112 when had been lifted by a crane to a waiting specially modified truck stationed outside the airport and taken to the hospital, Eman will not require a lift to put her inside the special aircraft that will take her to Abu Dhabi.
Sources said that a team of nine doctors , nurses and paramedics would accompany Eman and her sister during their journey to Abu Dhabi.
On their part, doctors from Saifee hospital attending on Eman – who weighed 500 kilograms when she arrived in Mumbai in February this year -- had claimed last week that she had lost over 300 kgs. However, Eman’s sister had contested the hospital’s claim and called the doctors as liars.
According to sources, Saifee Hospital’s COO received an email communication from VPS Burjeel Hospital on Wednesday, saying that Eman is “stable, in good health and fit to fly”.
The team of doctors attending on Eman briefed the patient’s relatives and the doctors’ team from VPS Burjeel Hospital about Eman's current medical status. “Eman will be transferred from Saifee Hospital tomorrow morning at 10.30 am,” a statement from the Saifee hospital said on Wednesday.
Eman has had a successful treatment at the Saifee hospital where, doctors attending on her, said that her weight got reduced from an estimated 500 kilograms to 176 kilograms.
Eman, who underwent treatment of obesity along with a myriad of related ailments such as renal malfunction, respiratory distress, secondary cardiac problems, paralysis, fluid retention, sleep apnea and hypothyroidism, underwent first bariatric surgery on March 7 – a procedure that reduced her stomach size by 75 per cent.
Eman is expected to undergo one more bariatric surgery at the VPS Burjeel Hospital, where she would undergo neurological and physiological rehabilitation for the next few months.
A spokesperson from VPS Healthcare said that her treatment will be covered free of cost under corporate social responsibility and “on grounds of humanity”.
It may be recalled that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had in December last year helped Eman to get medical visa to come to India for treatment.
Responding swiftly to a tweet put out by the country’s leading bariatric surgeon Dr Muffazal lakdawala of Saifee Hospital seeking her help to get medical visa to come India, Swaraj had tweeted: “Thanks for bringing this to my notice. We will definitely help her”.
A couple of hours later, Dr lakdawala had tweeted saying that the Indian Embassy in Cairo had granted a visa to Ahmed. “Embassy in Cairo called Visa granted.Thank you so much for this prompt response,impressed Appreciate the help @SushmaSwaraj @CODSIndia01”, he tweeted.
Dr lakdawala said that a team of obesity experts from Harvard, london, Washington and Melbourne would be involved in the treatment plan..