Fifty-year-old Ali Saleh Al-Sinani and his 40-year-old brother, Muhammad, who weigh 350 kg and and 250 kg respectively, are trapped inside a small room in their house in east Jeddah.
The complications and obstacles they face owing to severe obesity are only increasing with each passing day. They fear they will meet the same fate as their brother who died five years ago due to morbid obesity.
Both Ali and Muhammad, who spend much of their time reading the Qur’an, hope that authorities will come to their rescue.
“Our suffering increases day by day. I now weigh in excess of 350 kg,” said Ali, who has been virtually confined to his bed for the past couple of years.
Ali, who doesn’t have children, said that only his 29-year-old wife now takes care of him but had recently fallen ill and is need of medical attention herself.
“I am very tired and cannot move because of the many layers of fat around my abdomen and thighs. I have ulcers in many parts of my body,” he said, explaining that he had undergone gastric bypass surgery to no avail.
He underwent many other procedures, including a procedure to remove a tumor from his right thigh which saw him remain hospitalized for 18 days.
“The SR1,266 I get paid in social security benefits is hardly enough,” he points out.
His nephew, Ayman, who is always at his service, cited one incident where an Arab doctor asked Ali to sleep on the floor so as not to break the bed.
His brother, Muhammad, is married with eight children. “Muhammad faces major financial problems and he, too, suffers from severe obesity,” said Ali. Muhammad is a government employee but finds it difficult to work because of his weight.
Doctors have recommended that he undergo gastric bypass surgery, but Muhammad refused to do undergo the surgery after he saw that it did not do any good to his brother. “My weight improved under a nutritional program and physiotherapy at the hospital, but I regained all the weight I lost when l left the hospital,” Muhammad said.
The two brothers hope that a specialized center will treat their case.
Trapped obese brothers hope for a miracle
