Former heaviest woman in world set for free treatment in Abu Dhabi

Egyptian woman used to weigh close to 500kg and has been housebound for 25 years due to a rare thyriod condition.

Eman Abd El Aty arrives in Mumbai on February, 11. She was flown in on a specially equipped cargo flight and will be flown to Abu Dhabi on Thursday. Divyakant Solanki / EPA

MUMBAI // Doctors in India are preparing one of the world’s heaviest women to travel to Abu Dhabi on Thursday to begin a long-term rehabilitation programme.

Saifee Hospital in Mumbai said Egyptian Eman Abd El Aty, 36, who weighed about 500 kilograms because of a rare thyroid condition, would board a specially equipped cargo flight and be flown to the UAE capital.

The condition, hypothyroidism, made her balloon in weight since birth, leaving her housebound for the past 25 years, although it is now being maintained within normal ­limits.

Doctors in India answered the plea for help from Ms El Aty’s family and performed complex bariatric surgery, helping her to lose about 330kg.

But the family disagreed with plans by doctors in India to send her back to Alexandria in Egypt, claiming her case was being used as a publicity stunt and that she was not yet well enough to return home.

VPS Healthcare then stepped in to offer further rehabilitation and treatment, which could last up to a year, at Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi.

Ms El Aty is being prepared for travel and is due to arrive on an Egypt Air cargo flight, an Airbus 300 fitted with medical equipment, on Thursday.

“We will offer Eman complete rehabilitation until all of her health parameters are under control and she is able to lead a good quality of life,” said Dr ­Shajir Gaffar, chief executive of VPS Healthcare.

“We will do everything we can for her. It is hard to specify how long the rehabilitation will take but we are prepared for it to take up to a year if required.”

The treatment, which is being offered free of charge, is part of VPS Healthcare and Burjeel Hospital’s corporate social responsibility programme.

A 15-strong team of medical experts, paramedics and intensive-care nurses from VPS Healthcare are in India preparing for the four-hour flight.

The Ministry of Interior has issued Ms El Aty and her sister, Shaimaa Selim, long-term courtesy single entry visas.

Once listed as the second heaviest woman, Ms El Aty now weighs about 170kg. Doctors have a two-year plan to reduce her weight to 100kg, through physiotherapy and surgery.