MUMBAI: An Egyptian woman who weighs nearly 80 stone flown today to India to have life-saving weight reduction surgery after intervention from the country’s foreign minister ensured her a visa.
Eman Ahmed Abd El-Aty,36, who weighs around 500 kg (1,100-pounds), reached Mumbai in the early hours of Saturday in a special Airbus.
Eman will be taken to Mumbai’s Saifee Hospital to see her surgeon Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala.
Dr.Muffazal said in a statement.“To prepare her for the flight, a team of doctors has been in Egypt for the last 10 days to optimize the conditions for her travel.”
Eman’s family said she was born weighing 5kg (11lb) and was diagnosed with elephantiasis – a parasitic infection that causes extreme swelling in a sufferer’s limbs and arms.
Her sister had approached Lakdawala in October saying her sibling needed urgent medical attention.
Eman suffered a cerebral stroke at age 11 which left her bedridden, triggering a series of ailments including diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension and sleep apnoea.
Dr. Lakdawala has stressed how dangerous the operations could be for her and how life threatening ‘doing nothing’ might be and he
offered to carry out the procedure free of charge.
Her request for a visa was initially rejected, but Dr. Lakdawala used Twitter to contact India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to ask for help in December.
Eman waited for a long time as no airliners were previously willing to fly her from Egypt to India owing to her health complications.
“There is always a risk involved when transporting a patient like Eman, who weighs about 500 kg and has not moved or left the house for the past 25 years. We have taken all the necessary precautions possible to ensure that Eman’s journey to India is accomplished without a hassle.
“Special arrangements have been made for her ground and air transport in India and in Egypt. Dr. Aparna Govil and Dr. Kamlesh Bohra will be traveling with Eman to ensure that Eman is in stable condition and comfortable throughout the journey,” said Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala who is her doctor.
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