ABU DHABI // An Egyptian once believed to be the world’s heaviest woman arrived in Abu Dhabi late last night where she will continue treatment after weight-loss surgery in India.
Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty weighed about 500 kilograms when she arrived in Mumbai in February, but has shed an astonishing 323kg since undergoing a series of medical procedures.
With her weight now at 176.6kg, she will begin a year-long course of physiotherapy at VPS Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi, her doctors in Mumbai said.
Dr Yassin El Shahat, the hospital’s chief medical officer, said Ms El Aty had a comfortable journey to Abu Dhabi with no complications and arrived safely.
“I asked her personally how the journey was and she said she was very happy and it went very smooth,” said Dr El Shahat.
Doctors are planning her treatment and will do an assessment.
“Twenty doctors and specialists have been assigned to make a proper assessment and come up with a proper management plan, both short and long term,” said Dr El Shahat.
“The idea is to complete the treatment the patient received in [Mumbai]. We are going to assess the patient and see what has been done and complete it.”
The treatment could take six months to a year.
“The target is to make her normal or at least close to normal and, inshallah, it will take time, but we will have a proper plan of rehabilitation and treatment for her complications of obesity and do the best for her.”
Doctors hope expect her treatment to last at least six months, but it could take as long as a year.
“We are working with a special dietician and diabetic dietician and will control her diet in a very strict way,” he said.
Sanet Meyer, director of medical evacuation at Burjeel, said the hospital “arranged for a hydraulic stretcher from Italy for Eman’s journey”.
“She will have doctors, paramedics and nurses with her during the journey.”
Ms El Aty was put on a special liquid diet in India to reduce her weight enough so that doctors could perform bariatric surgery.
The stomach-shrinking bypass procedure is increasingly common in India, which has a growing problem with obesity, particularly in urban areas.
She had not left her home in Egypt’s Mediterranean port city of Alexandria for two decades until she was moved to India on a specially-modified Airbus plane in February.
Her family told doctors that as a child she had elephantiasis diagnosed, a condition that causes the limbs and other body parts to swell, leaving her almost immobile.
Ms El Aty has suffered a stroke and faced a series of other serious ailments owing to her weight, including diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension and sleep deprivation.
She is unable to speak properly and is partially paralysed.
India is a major destination for medical tourists seeking services and no waiting lists at a fraction of the cost of western countries.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome