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'World's heaviest' woman Eman Ahmed leaves hospital after record weight loss

An Egyptian woman believed to be the heaviest in the world has left hospital in India after losing more than 51 stone (324kg) thanks to weight-loss surgery.

Eman Ahmed, 36, weighed more than 78 stone (495kg) when she was operated on in Mumbai in March, but doctors say that she is down to just under 28 stone (176kg).

Her doctor, Muffazal Lakdawala, one of India's leading bariatric surgeons, began by putting her on a special liquid diet to get her weight down to a low enough level to perform a stomach-shrinking bypass procedure.

Dr Lakdawala confirmed in a blog post that Eman has lost 51 stone (324kg), writing: "Her thyroid levels are controlled, her kidney and liver tests are as good as any of us, her lung functions and oxygen levels are normal without any need of external oxygen.

"She leaves India the healthiest she has been in the last decade or so," he added, writing that he had promised Ahmed "a healthier life and weight loss, which he had achieved".

Her family says Ahmed, from Alexandria, was born weighing 11lb (5kg) and has lymphedema, a condition that causes body tissue to swell, which caused her to suffer a stroke aged 11.

Her weight has gradually increased ever since and she has been unable to leave the house in 25 years.

Ms Ahmed was brought to India on a specially-adapted cargo plane - the trip and the treatment paid for thanks to a crowdsourcing campaign.

Dr Lakdawala says she would need further operations to walk, or even stand, again, partly because her bone structure is so poor after years of disuse.

"She will need multiple surgeries to straighten her hips and knees," he wrote in the blog post.

Her next operations will take place in Abu Dhabi, where Ms Ahmed is being taken in an air ambulance, accompanied by a team of nine specialists, including a critical care doctor, paramedics and nurses.

She will complete the six-hour journey on a hydraulic stretcher specially imported from Italy, and helped by a 12-mile (20km) 'green' corridor created by Mumbai authorities to clear the route from hospital to airport.

Her stay in Mumbai has not been without controversy, after her sister, Shaimaa Selim, criticised medical staff for lying about how much weight her sister had lost, prompting most of the doctors treating her to resign.

In a video posted on Facebook, she said:"Everything was a lie. God forgive them for what they have done... Eman did not lose 240 kg or 260 kg."

But Dr Lakdawala responded in his blog, accusing Ms Selim of being "not equipped with scientific data and medical information".

Ms Selim appeared to accept his version as her sister departed, saying: "Thank you to everyone…people in India. Thank you."