Egyptian named 'world's heaviest woman' smiling again after surgery

An Egyptian national believed to be the world's heaviest woman successfully underwent weight-loss surgery in India, doctors said Thursday.

Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, who had weighed around 500 kilos (1,100 lbs), lost over 100 kilograms (220 lbs) in order to undergo the surgery.

"We are happy to inform all well-wishers that the medical team of Saifee Hospital has successfully performed the surgery on Eman Ahmed," the hospital said a statement.

"Eman successfully underwent a Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy 7 March at Saifee Hospital. She had an uneventful surgery and anaesthesia course".

Prior to her medical trip to India, the 37-year-old had not left her home in over two decades due to her weight. 

A spokeswoman for Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, who is leading the treatment, said Abd El Aty's weight was brought below 400 kilograms after her arrival in Mumbai last month.

"Eman has lost over 100 kilograms and has been shedding weight gradually on a daily basis with all the treatment and support," she told AFP.

Abd El Aty was flown to India on 11 February after her sister approached Lakdawala, a specialist weight-loss surgeon, in October.

She informed the doctor that as a child her sister was diagnosed with elephantiasis, a condition that causes immobility by intense swelling.

Abd El Aty also suffered a stroke and several other serious ailments including diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension and insomnia.

Initially, she faced a serious obstacles in trying to travel to India, including being refused a visa. This was later granted after a tweet pleading for help was sent directly to India's foreign minister, who intervened.

Airlines were also reluctant to take Abd El Aty as a passenger due to her health complications, so after weeks of waiting she was flown to India in a modified Airbus.

Abd El Aty's doctors say she is now able to sit up and will be able to return to Egypt after several months of monitoring and physiotherapy.

"She is very happy, she started dancing in her bed," Lakdawala told CNN. "Her smile has come back."

Despite undergoing the Bariatric surgery, which is a stomach-shrinking bypass procedure, she remains the world's heaviest person on record.

Second only to Abd El Aty is American Pauline Potter, who the Guinness Book of World Records recorded at 293 kilos in July last year.