Mumbai, Feb 11 (NIA) – 36 year old Eman Ahamed, who has been identified as the ‘World’s Heaviest Woman’ at 500 kg, arrived in India’s financial city, Mumbai on Saturday to begin months of surgeries and treatment in order to shed her weight.
Arriving in a modified Airbus 300-600 of Egyptair, Eman, along with her sister, travelled to Mumbai from her home in Cairo where she had slept in a room for over 20 years.
Eman exited from gate number 5, which is a cargo section of the Mumbai international airport. Officials then loaded the specially designed bed of Eman on an open truck which was escorted by an ambulance and police van to Mumbai’s prestigious Saifee Hospital.
Two doctors had accompanied Eman from Egypt to India.
Top officials including Egyptian consulate general Ahmed Khalil were present at the spot until Eman was safely admitted in the hospital.
Local media reports said that considering her special requirements, a crane was called to lift Eman’s bed to the first floor of the hospital to a social facility, especially designed for her treatment and surgical interventions. The bed had hooks on all sides so that it could be lifted with the help of sturdy ropes.
Eman’s treatment which will begin on Saturday will continue for the next six months. Several surgeries will be included as part of her treatment. Saifee Hospital will be treating Eman for free for both the treatment and surgeries.
Eman will be treated by well known Indian surgeon Dr. Mufaddal Lakdawala. Eman’s sister got in touch with the Indian surgeon in October and he began raising money to bring her over to Mumbai as her family was too poor and unable to bear the costs of chartering a flight.
The Indian embassy in Cairo initially denied Eman her visa request as she was unable to travel there in person. However a visa was granted after Dr. Lakdawala tweeted to India’s foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj about Eman’s condition.
Eman’s family said she weighed 5kg (11lb) at birth and was diagnosed with elephantiasis, a condition in which a limb or other body parts swell due to a parasitic infection.
When she was 11, she had gained immense weight because of which she could not stand up and would crawl. And then she suffered a stroke which left her bedridden and she had not been able to leave home since then.
Eman is cared for by her mother and sister.
