Half-tonne woman’s family criticise doctors
EGYPT: A row has broken out between Indian doctors trying to save the world’s fattest woman and her Egyptian family, who claim the doctors are using her to win fame.
Eman Ahmed Abd el-aty, 36, weighed half a tonne when Muffazal Lakdawala, a celebrated weight loss specialist, visited the family in Alexandria promising to help.
After a crowdfunding campaign spearheaded by Saifee hospital in Mumbai, she was removed from her home by crane and flown to India on a modified cargo plane. Last month she underwent a gastrectomy, where most of the stomach is removed.
However, the treatment has degenerated into a war of words, with the hospital saying el-aty should soon be able to return home, while her family accuse the doctors of exaggerating the surgery’s success.
El-aty has not been able to walk since she was 11, and had not left her home in two decades. She almost doubled her weight after suffering a stroke three years ago.
Her sister, Shaimaa Selim, accused the Indian medics of offering to help el-aty only to ‘‘get famous’’. She said they had endangered her sister’s life. She posted her grievances on Facebook, prompting outrage in India.
Lakdawala denied the accusations, saying el-aty had lost more than 250 kilograms and was progressing well.
Selim claimed the doctors had lied about the extent of the weight loss and had retreated on promises that they could help her sister walk again.
Although her sister is visibly thinner, Selim insisted she was still too large and ill to return home. She said el-aty was going to be transferred to a hospital in Abu Dhabi to continue treatment.
Lakdawala hit back on Twitter, saying Selim had been trying to blackmail the team for money.
Aparna Govil Bhasker, one of the three doctors present during surgery, stepped down from the team in protest at the family’s reaction. She said el-aty now weighed 176kg and was ‘‘75 per cent better’’.
‘‘Her sister is a troublemaker. I think she is the most thankless human in the whole world.’’
- The Times