An Egyptian woman, believed to be the world’s heaviest woman at 500kg (1,102lb), will soon be flown to India for weight reduction surgery.
Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, 36, will be flown on a chartered plane to Mumbai where bariatric surgeon Dr Muffazal Lakdawala plans to operate.
The Indian embassy in Cairo initially denied her visa request as she was unable to travel there in person.
After the surgeon tweeted to India’s foreign minister that changed.
India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is herself in hospital awaiting a kidney transplant, was quick to respond with an offer of help.
Ms Abd El Aty’s family says she hasn’t been able to leave home for 25 years now and claims she weighs 500kg.
Ms Abd El Aty’s family says 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, Dr Lakdawala told the BBC in a phone call from Mumbai.
“They said 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 has not been able to leave home since then.”
Ms Abd El Aty is cared for by her mother and sister.
