The harrowing story of Egypt's Eman Ahmed Abdulati took another turn, as she will be flown to Abu Dhabi to receive a highly complex surgery and continue her journey to weight loss and recovery.
Once reportedly weighing some 500 kg – and considered the world's heaviest living woman – the 37-year-old reportedly dropped drastically to 177 kg since beginning of her treatment in India earlier this year. Still, the logistics of transporting such an overweight individual are complicated.
"There are many factors that are being considered ahead of Eman’s safe transportation," Sanet Meyer, director of medevac at Burjeel Hospital told The National. "Loading is vitally important in this process, in Mumbai and Abu Dhabi."
"We have a highly skilled medical support team in place that is assisting in the mission," she said.
The news comes after a drama between Abdulati's doctors in India and her family played out on social media. Abdulati's sister publicly accused doctors of exaggerating her sister's recovery and using the story as a PR stunt.
She claimed facilities were inadequate to support her sister. Doctors responded with sadness and shock.
One of the doctors even resigned from Abdulati's case.
"We didn't just provide medical care, we fell in love with Eman. She became our obsession. Even my 3-year-old son made peace with the fact that in his mother's life at the moment Eman aunty takes precedence [sic]," Dr. Aparna Govil Bhasker said in a social media post.
"Unfortunately Eman's case is an example of the worst kind of assault that a patient's family can do to a doctor, [sic]" she said.
In February, doctors reported that Abdulati was able to lift her arms and sit up in bed for the first time in many years.
From the beginning, Abdulati's journey has played out on social media.
After suffering from morbid obesity her entire life, Ahmed and her family were desperate for help. Doctors said that she has “a disruption of the glands” and have diagnosed her with elephantiasis. The rare disease causes the body to swell and retain water, leading to severe weight gain.
So, in October, Abdulati and her family turned to Facebook to implore for help.
"Eman said that she appeals to the president and she said in her letter 'I haven't gotten out of my room for 25 years and I wish to be treated at The Maadi Military Hospital.'
Share Eman’s case so that her voice can be heard. Pray that the lord heal all sickness. All the medical tests and analysis are with the administration of the page."
Although Abdulati was unable to find proper treatment in Egypt, help came via an Indian doctor. Dr. Muffi Lakdawala is a bariatric and laparoscopic surgeon and he believed he could help her overcome the rare disease. But, she needed to travel to India and her medical visa was denied.
Dr. Lakdawala didn't want to give up too easily. So, he decided to contact India's Minister of External Affairs directly ... via Twitter
And Sushma Swaraj, India's minister of external affairs, promptly replied. She assured Dr. Lakdawala that she would help.
Getting Abdulati to India wasn't exactly simple. With her extreme size and inability to move, a crane was required to remove her from her home.
She traveled to India via an Egypt Air cargo plane earlier this month. Doctors have also turned to technology to communicate with Abdulati, who only speaks Arabic.
"We use Google Translate as it translates our English instructions to Arabic for Eman to listen and follow," a doctor told Indian Times. "This method has worked well for her."
Now, having already lost a significant amount of weight, Abdulati's incredible journey continues.
"This will be a life-changing operation for Eman and she will require an indeterminate period of recovery in Abu Dhabi," Meyer said.