500-kg Egyptian Woman to Reach Mumbai Tomorrow For Weight Reduction Treatment

Mumbai: A 36-year-old Egyptian woman weighing 500 kgs, who has not moved out of her house for 25 years, would reach in Mumbai on Saturday for her weight reduction treatment, doctors said today.

Eman Ahmed, one of the heaviest women in the world, is currently under the care of a city-based bariatric surgeon Muffazal Lakdawala, and his team of doctors.

Lakdawala and his team have been treating Eman for almost three months and have taken all the necessary precautions needed for the transportation of bed-bound Eman from Egypt's Alexandria city, an aide to Lakdawala said.

"Even so transporting Eman to Mumbai is a challenging task keeping in mind the complexities of her case as she is a high risk patient who has not been able to move or leave the house for the past 25 years," he said.

Eman, travelling to India in an EgyptAir plane, is accompanied by Aparna Govil Bhasker, an Advanced Laparoscopic and Bariatric Surgeon at Centre of Obesity and Digestive Surgery and Head of Department of Bariatric surgery at Saifee hospital, and Kamlesh Bohra, Senior Intensivist, Department ofCritical and Intensive Care at Saifee Hospital in Mumbai.

"She, along with her sister Shaimaa Ahmed, will arrive tomorrow at around 4 am. To prepare her for the flight, the team of doctors have been in Egypt for the last 10 days to optimise the conditions for her travel; given the fact that she is so heavy and not moved for the last 25 years she is at a high risk for a pulmonary embolism and hence has been put on blood thinners to try and minimise the chances of such an eventuality during her transfer," the official said.

A special bed has been created by local Egyptian artisans in requirements with the safety precautions as laid out by the Egypt Air for her safe transport on ground and in the plane. As a precautionary measure, the flight has been furnished with all the equipments required in case of an emergency such as portable ventilator, portable defibrillator, oxygen cylinders, intubating laryngoscopes and other safety drugs.

"Once in India, Eman will be transported by a fully equipped truck, which will be followed by an ambulance and a police escort to Saifee Hospital where a special room has been created for her.