Kochi/Mumbai, Apr 28 (TOI): Eman Ahmed, who was the world's heaviest woman till three months ago, will be flown to the UAE from Mumbai for a year-long rehabilitative treatment, said Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, Indian-origin founder of the Abu Dhabi-headquartered VPS Healthcare Group on Thursday.

"Our team of doctors has gone through Eman's medical reports, which include her CT scan, x-ray and blood reports. We have also got a short summary of her medical condition from Saifee Hospital, where she is currently undergoing treatment. On Sunday, she will be shifted to our Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi," said Vayalil, after visiting her in Mumbai on Thursday.

During the six-hour-long transfer to the UAE, Eman will be accompanied by a team of doctors, paramedics and nurses on the air ambulance. "There will be four or five doctors, including an intensivist, two flight paramedics and three trained nurses," said Vayalil.

In a press release, Saifee Hospital said, "The team of doctors at Saifee Hospital has done a fabulous job and her recovery has been unprecedented. She is stable and all parameters are under control. She will continue to need neurological rehabilitation and physiotherapy. As the treatment here concludes, she is being shifted to Burjeel Hospital in the UAE (a hospital initially introduced to the family by Dr Lakdawala). Secondary, physiotherapy will continue over there as it is closer to home for Eman and her family." The hospital added that Eman is an inspiration to millions of critical and obese patients the world over "that someone as serious as her can get better with expert medical care and advances in medical science".

Eman's sister Shaimaa Semil, too, confirmed the Abu Dhabi move. "We have been promised full care, and told that my sister Eman will walk."

Vayalil has also brought in his head of medical air evacuation (medevac) team at VPS Healthcare for smooth transportation of Eman to Abu Dhabi. As the locally available stretchers are not strong enough to carry her safely, VPS Healthcare is flying in a hydraulic stretcher from Italy.

"The challenge that we face is to have a stretcher to take the patient from Saifee Hospital to the airport and then to move her into the aircraft. We need a strong hydraulic stretcher with the maximum stretching capacity and as it is not available locally, we are flying in one from Italy," said Sanet Meyer, director, Medevac, VPS Healthcare.

Meyer hinted that she might most probably use an MX-Pro Bariatric Transport stretcher from Stryker, an American medical equipment manufacturer. This hydraulic stretcher, which is 203cm long and 74cm high, has a load tolerance of 725kg and can be operated by two people, once it is occupied by the patient.

For taking Eman from Saifee Hospital to Mumbai airport, Meyer will get an ambulance, which is being modified with a platform to fit the hydraulic stretcher in securely. At the airport, the stretcher will be lifted into the air ambulance using a heavy lifter and later, in the UAE, Eman will be shifted to a specialized bariatric ambulance.

Originally a radiologist by profession, Vayalil had founded VPS Healthcare in 2007, which has grown into a chain of 20 hospitals, 100 medical centres and 28 pharmacies in the Middle East and India.