Egyptian patient Eman Ahmed, who has spent two months undergoing weight-reduction procedure at Saifee Hospital here, is all set to fly to Abu Dhabi on Thursday in a special Egyptian Airbus. According to information accessed by The Indian Express, Eman will fly on an Egypt Special Airbus 300 in an over three-and-a-half-hour flight from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi. The aircraft has been customised to meet the requirements for the travel. The same day she will be admitted to Burjeel Hospital, where doctors plan to continue rehabilitation and weight reduction procedure on her. She will be transferred in a special ambulance procured for her to travel from Saifee hospital to the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. “A team of nine doctors, nurses and paramedics will travel with her and her sister on Thursday,” a spokesperson of VPS Healthcare said. While Eman, 36, will not require a crane to lift her like previous transit when she was airlifted to India from Egypt, she continues to require a special bed or stretcher to move her around. A spokesperson from VPS Healthcare said that her treatment will be covered free of cost under corporate social responsibility and “on grounds of humanity”. “I am hopeful that they will help her start walking. They have promised everything possible,” Eman’s sister Shaimaa Selim (33) said. She added that on Wednesday final arrangements to shift Eman will begin. The arrangements to transfer her kicked off last week. While doctors treating the 36-year-old at Saifee hospital claim she can travel in a passenger flight with two or three seats booked together, the medical team set to overtake her future treatment said a commercial aircraft’s entrance is too small to allow easy passage for her. Eman was brought to India on February 11 when she weighed an estimated 500 kgs for treatment of obesity along with a myriad of related ailments such as renal malfunction, respiratory distress, secondary cardiac problems, paralysis, fluid retention, sleep apnea and hypothyroidism. She underwent the first bariatric surgery on March 7 to reduce her stomach size by 75 per cent. With a procedure called laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, bariatric surgeon Dr Muffazal Lakdawala said her food intake will considerably reduce. She suffers from a rare genetic mutation in LEPR gene that is responsible for excessive food intake. A month after her surgery, Selim was locked in a dispute with Saifee hospital over discharge date of the patient. Eman has already lost over 300 kgs and currently weighs 176 kgs. While doctors claim the anatomical structure of her legs will not support walking, Selim claims the doctors must give her at least six months of hospitalisation to see whether some progress can be made. Apart from genetic disorder that has caused obesity, Eman’s 40 per cent of brain cells are also dead following a stroke that has affected her swallowing functions, speech and right limb movements. According to Dr Aparna Bhasker, bariatric surgeon who was involved in bringing Eman from Egypt to India in February, her recovery has reached 75 per cent. “Apart from physiotherapy and neurological rehabilitation therapy, there is no medical intervention immediately required,” she said. VPS Healthcare, under which Burjeel hospital operates, is planning to conduct another bariatric surgery. However, doctors claim nothing has been finalised yet. Mr. Huzefa Shehabi- COO Saifee Hospital has received an email communication from VPS Burjeel Hospital saying that Eman is “stable, in good health and fit to fly”. Today the team of doctors from Saifee will brief the patient’s relative and the team from VPS Burjeel about Eman’s current medical status. Eman will be transferred from Saifee Hospital tomorrow morning at 10.30 am.
