An Egyptian woman just might have been saved by an Indian doctor via Twitter.
Iman Ahmed Abdulati, 36, is morbidly obese and hasn't left her room for some 25 years. She weighs more than 500 kg.
Doctors have said that Abdulati has “a disruption of the glands” and have diagnosed her with elephantiasis, according to Cairo Scene.
The rare disease causes the body to swell and retain water, leading to severe weight gain.
In October, a post imploring for someone to help Abdulati was shared on Facebook.
"Iman 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 Iman’s case so that her voice can be heard. Pray that the lord heals all sickness. All the medical tests and analysis are with the administration of the page," the post said.
Although Abdulati was unable to find proper treatment in Egypt, help has come via an Indian doctor.
Dr. Muffi Lakdawala is a bariatric and laparoscopic surgeon and he believes he can help Abdulati overcome the rare disease. But, she needs 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.
This isn't the first time that someone has reached out to Swaraj via Twitter to help someone in the Arab world.
In August of 2015, a distraught Indian man >reached out to the minister asking her to help his sister in the United Arab Emirates. The young woman had been falsely lured to the UAE under the guise of working as a flight attendant. Instead, she was turned over to human traffickers along with several other young woman.
Later the same day, Swaraj had secured the help of Emirati police in rescuing the young woman.