Eman's Brave Fight

Her battles did little to dampen her spirit. Eman Ahmed, once the world’s heaviest woman, was full of life. Five days before she breathed her last, THE WEEK met her and found her happy and hopeful.

- Anuradha Varanasi

Dressed in a red hijab, Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty was propped up in bed with pillows. The 37-year old Egyptian, believed to be the world’s heaviest woman at 500kg, looked radiant and alert when I met her at Abu Dhabi’s swanky Burjeel Hospital on September 20. Five days later she would be gone.

Room 528 on the fifth floor of the private hospital was Eman’s home for the last four months, after she was flown in from Mumbai’s Saifee Hospital in May. Wide corridors lit with soothing lights led to Eman’s room. When we entered the sprawling suite of 93sqm—with wooden panels and wide double doors—along with Eman’s younger sister, Shaimaa, colourful helium balloons tied to a small trolley greeted us. Giving Eman company was a nurse, who stood by the window next to her bed. While Eman never got a chance to step out of the hospital, the huge window, overlooking the city’s skyline, gave a glimpse of the beautiful city.

Eman acknowledged the presence of the two new visitors, THE WEEK’s chief photographer Janak Bhat and I, with a polite nod. When chief medical officer Dr Yassin El-Shahat entered the suite, she broke into a toothy grin. The smile turned into a high-pitched laugh when the doctor shared a joke with her in Arabic. He then asked her, in English, how she was feeling, and she flashed him a thumbs up sign. Though she was unable to speak, her eyes and facial expressions said it all.