Morbidly obese man passes away following commotion at Lahore hospital

Army chief, who facilitated Noorul Hassan's treatment, expresses grief over the sad demise

LAHORE: A morbidly obese man, who recently underwent “a successful weight loss surgery in Lahore”, passed away after a fight between disgruntled relatives of a patient and staff broke out at a private hospital in the city on Monday.

Noorul Hassan, a Sadiqabad resident weighing 330kgs, underwent the surgery after Pakistan Army facilitated his treatment.

Hassan's surgery took place on June 28 and doctors had said his life was out of danger following the surgery. He remained under observation at the intensive care unit (ICU) for two days.

According to Dr Mauz Hasan, the surgeon who operated on Hassan at Shalamar Hospital told The Express Tribune that on Monday a woman passed away at the gynecology department of the hospital. The woman was in the ICU.

“The deceased’s relatives reached the hospital and started fighting with the staff and also damaged property. Hassan, who was also in the ICU died of an heart attack,” confirmed Dr Mauz.

After Hassan’s death, the doctor and team that performed the surgery went into hiding for a couple of hours as they feared they would be blamed for his death. “Hassan’s surgery was successful and he was on the mend. Unfortunately, he died of a heart attack,” said Dr Mauz.

Around Rs800,000 were spent on Hassan’s surgery and Dr Mauz also contributed to it.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Hassan's nephew said that when he visited his uncle on Sunday, he was congratulated by the doctor and was told everything was fine.

“Till 1am he was fine, even moving his hands. At 8am we were informed he had died. We couldn’t even go into the room because there was police present there,” he added.

Hassan's wife, Asma, confirmed the statement made by the nephew. “He was fine until last night. We received news in the morning that he had passed away,” she said.

Hassan’s demise saddens army chief

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who had directed special medical treatment for Hassan after taking notice of an appeal made on social media earlier this month, has expressed grief on the sad demise.

The deceased was airlifted in a military helicopter for treatment at a private hospital in Lahore as he was unable to travel in an ambulance by road due to his weight.

“Will of Allah is to be done while one can only make an effort. May Allah bless the departed soul. Aamen,” the COAS was quoted by DG ISPR Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor as saying in a tweet.

COAS expresses grief on sad demise of Mr Noor Hassan, earlier air lifted to Lahore for treatment at private hospital.
“Will of Allah is to be done while one can only make an effort. May Allah bless the departed soul. Aamen”, COAS.

— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) July 8, 2019