Body & Fitness

World’s heaviest woman has died from heart complications

The pressure on her organs finally proved too much.
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Once dubbed the world’s heaviest woman, Eman Abdul Atti from Egypt, 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.

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 family reported that for the last 25 years, she had barely left her room. She suffered a stroke and, unable to move or communicate, her weight increased to more than 450kg and her health became extremely poor. At her heaviest, she weighed 500kg.

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 90kg 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 September 25, 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.”

Dr Lakdawala, who had been 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.

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