Former World’s Heaviest Woman Dies: Eman Ahmed’s Cause Of Death Came As Shock To Doctors

Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, an Egyptian once believed to have been the world’s heaviest living woman, died in a United Arab Emirates hospital, mere weeks after her 37th birthday.

According to a report from BBC News, Ahmed’s cause of death was related to “complications from other health conditions,” namely heart disease and kidney dysfunction. Previously weighing in at around 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms), Ahmed reportedly lost more than 660 pounds (300 kilograms) in recent months, after leaving her home country of Egypt to undergo bariatric surgery.

As further noted by the Independent, Ahmed had been unable to leave her house for 25 years prior to this year’s surgery, which was originally slated to take place at Mumbai’s Saifee Hospital. She was then transferred to Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi after her family disagreed with Saifee staff over a number of issues, including the actual weight Eman had lost, as well as the cost of her treatment.

Further medical procedures were planned for the one-time world’s heaviest woman prior to her death, even as she had lost a drastic amount of weight. She also appeared to be in stable condition just weeks before her passing, according to a report from Al Arabiya. As of the last week of August, Ahmed had reportedly completed the first stage of her weight loss treatment and was preparing for a second series of operations aimed to further reduce her weight. Hospital officials were quoted as saying that Eman was also to receive aortic valve replacement surgery, as well as procedures to eliminate stiffness in her knee joints and strengthen her leg muscles.

Eman Ahmed passed away on Monday morning at 4.35 am https://t.co/SM5SenTCsU

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) September 25, 2017

At the time of the Al Arabiya report, Ahmed was “communicative” with medical staff and able to freely move her arms, feed herself, and take her medicine. However, things had apparently taken a turn for the worse in more recent days. According to the Independent, Ahmed’s condition had “deteriorated dramatically” on Friday, and three days later, hospital staff announced her passing in a statement.

“Eman Abdul Atti [sic], once known as the ‘world’s heaviest woman’ passed away on Monday, 25 September 2017 at 4:35 a.m. due to complications from the underlying comorbid conditions including heart disease and kidney dysfunction… She had been under the supervision of a medical team of over 20 doctors from different specialities who were managing her medical condition from the time she arrived in the UAE.”

Regarding Eman Ahmed’s cause of death, doctors told United Arab Emirates-based publication the National that they were shocked at how her condition had suddenly deteriorated in recent days.

“Her health suddenly began to deteriorate and finally ended in this drastic result. It was not just a result of one cause,” said Burjeel Hospital medical director Dr. Nabil Debouni.

“There were also respiratory problems, and they culminated in this tragic event. The treatment she was having continued in the same way, and nothing was different.”

Debouni added that Ahmed had become more communicative before her condition deteriorated, and was also eating the right diet and responding well to physiotherapy and speech therapy.

Although Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty was frequently referred to as the “world’s heaviest woman” prior to her death, she was not the heaviest woman ever to live, according to a 2016 report from the Washington Post. Michigan woman Carol Yager had reached a peak weight of 1,189 pounds in 1993, one year before she died in 1994 at the age of 34.

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