Once dubbed the world’s heaviest woman, Eman Abdul Atti, has sadly passed away due to complications from heart disease and kidney dysfunction, according to a statement from Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi.
The Egyptian woman had celebrated her 37th birthday with friends, just weeks before. Yet, what is truly tragic about Eman’s story, is that prior to her death, with the help of a dedicated team of doctors, she was actively losing weight in a fight for her life.
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Eman’s weight struggle
From a very young age, Eman had issues with her health, CNN reports. Her family said she was born overweight at five kilograms and she suffered from thyroid problems since she was very young. The thyroid gland produces hormones that control the rate of many activities in your body including; how fast you burn calories and how fast your heart beats.
By the time Eman reached fifth grade she had begun having difficulties moving and walking and so she stopped going to school.
Eman’s sister set up a social media campaign to source help for Eman, who at her largest weighed 500kgs.
Eman’s family reported that for the last 20 years, she had barely left her room. She suffered a stroke and, unable to move or communicate, her weight increased to more than 450 kilograms and her health became extremely poor. At her heaviest, she weighed 500 kilograms.
By this time, Eman’s sister knew she had to do something to help, so she set up as social media campaign. Indian doctor Dr Muffazal Lakdawala saw her sister’s desperate plea and offered his help, proposing a three-and-a-half year plan, including two operations, and a goal to reduce her weight to less than 100 kilograms.
Eman’s weight-loss journey
There were many road blocks in the way of Eman and what her family had hoped would be a life-saving operation. Firstly, she had to get to Mumbai, and there was a struggle to get a visa, as she was immobile and unable to get to the embassy in person. But an Indian minister helped out and she was cleared to go. Then there was the issue of getting Eman on an airplane. After specially adapting a cargo plane for her, Egypt Air transported her to India.
The first stage of her treatment would be laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy operation performed by Dr Lakdawala, which Eman had to lose 90 kilograms prior to undergoing the operation in March this year. During the procedure, a part of the stomach is removed so that only a sleeve, roughly the size and shape of a banana, is left.
After the procedure, things were looking positive for Eman.
“She is very happy, she started dancing in her bed,” Dr Lakdawala told CNN at the time.
“Her smile has come back.”
Eman was then transferred to Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi, where her condition was to be managed by 20 specialist doctors. The next step would be another procedure by Dr Lakdawala next year.
However, Eman’s heart and kidneys could no longer function, and it was in this hospital on the 25th September, that she passed away.
Her family expressed gratitude for the care Eman received at Burjeel Hospital. While the hospital released a statement saying: “Our prayers and heartfelt condolences go out to her family.”
As for Dr Lakdawala , the only doctor willing to take the risk of treating Eman, is devastated.
“Eman was not a just a patient, she was like family. I have lost someone close to me,” he told the Mumbai Mirror.
