The determination of a bariatric surgeon, an Egyptian heavyweight’s hope for a shot at life and mid-day’s exclusive and relentless coverage means Eman Ahmed Abdulati leaves home for the first time in 25 years for a life-saving surgery
A specially equipped EgyptAir freighter flying her in from Cairo
Welcome, Eman. We’ve waited too long for you. Egyptian national Eman Ahmed Abdulati, touted the world’s heaviest woman at 500 kg, arrived in Mumbai with sister Shaimaa Ahmed on an EgyptAir freighter at 4.10 am today for a life-saving bariatric surgery and subsequent treatment.
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Eman was expected to arrive in Mumbai early this morning
Her arrival comes over two months after mid-day broke her story - she hadn’t left home in 25 years and her bed in 13 - owing to severe lymphedema (swelling in arms or legs) and water retention. The family had nearly given up hope of restoring Eman’s quality of life when it approached Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, bariatric surgeon, as a last-ditch effort. Moved by the family’s plight, Dr Lakdawala offered to perform a surgery for free to remove much of Eman’s flab.
All seating from ground floor office of Saifee Hospital, Charni Road, cleared to make room for Eman
On her arrival, Eman will be taken in a fully-equipped truck to Saifee Hospital, which is sponsoring the treatment. The hospital’s ground floor office has been turned into a dedicated facility that will cater to all of Eman’s needs for the next six months of her treatment.
Dr Muffazal Lakdawala - accompanied by Dr Aparna Govil Bhasker, advanced laparoscopic and bariatric surgeon at Centre for Obesity and Diabetes Surgery and head of department of bariatric surgery at Saifee Hospital, and Dr Kamlesh Bohra, senior intensivist, department of critical and intensive care - will be the crack team attending to her.
Customised room
The special facility for Eman was put together after the BMC last week demolished Saifee Hospital’s temporary - and illegal - operation theatre, built exclusively for Eman at a cost of R2 crore. “We had limited time since the demolition to make alternative arrangements. Since she can’t be carried upstairs, the ground floor office was the only option,” said a doctor from the hospital.
The Egyptian national needs customised facilities owing to her weight and large girth (1.6 m). Saifee Hospital has been clearing its ground floor office since Thursday night in preparation for its possibly most challenging case. All chairs and furniture have been removed to make room.
The truck that will ferry Eman from the airport to the hospital will be tailed by an ambulance and a police van. The cot in which she is being carried has been specially built to sustain the weight.
Monitoring her
A team of doctors from Saifee Hospital had gone to Alexandria, Eman’s hometown 10 days ago to optimise the conditions for her travel. Since she faced the risk of developing pulmonary embolism during the flight, the doctors put her on blood thinners to avert such an eventuality.
Even the freighter was modified and equipped with medical equipment for contingencies.
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