International

World’s heaviest woman close to death

An Egyptian woman believed to be the world’s heaviest woman, weighing 1,102 pounds, is fighting for her life.

Eman Ahmed, 36, suffered a stroke in 2014, impairing her speech and mobility. Her sister set up a social media campaign to fly Ahmed to India to see a surgeon who will help save her life.

Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala plans to operate on Ahmed several times to reduce her weight to 220 pounds over the course of at least three years. He’s helped the social media campaign go global.

“She is battling with her life every single day,” Dr. Lakdawala told CNN. “Right now she is like a living bombshell, which could blow up on her any moment.”

According to Ahmed’s family, she gained 500 pounds after suffering from her stroke. She hasn’t left her house in over 20 years because of her lack of mobility. No one knows how long she has to live.

National

Boy dies in Santa’s arms

A terminally ill 5-year-old boy died in the arms of Santa Claus in Nashville,Tennessee, as reported by USA Today on Monday, Dec. 12.

The boy asked to see Santa as his last wish before he died. A nurse, realizing he was close to death, called Eric Schmitt-Matzen, also known as Santa Claus. He came to visit the boy 15 minutes later.

Before he went to into the boy’s room, he told the boy’s family and hospital staff that if they were going to cry to not be in the room because he would lose it and not be able to do his job.

The boy asked Schmitt-Matzen, “How can I tell when I get to where I’m going?”

“When you get there, you tell ‘em you’re Santa’s number-one elf, and I know they’ll let you in,” Schmitt-Matzen said. The boy hugged him and died in his arms.

Schmitt-Matzen told the Knoxville News Sentinel that he was devastated and bawled at the nursing station after the boy died. 

Local

Search ends for Tahoe skier after avalanche

A 64-year-old skier was caught in an avalanche while skiing in a closed section at Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe Saturday, Dec. 10. His body was found by rescue crews on Jackpot Chute the following day.

The skier was reported to be swept away by the avalanche by his friend who was skiing with him. He states they did not have rescue gear on them.

The rescue efforts were called off on Saturday around 2 p.m. for safety concerns, according to Bob Harmon, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, as reported by the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Rescue workers continued the search on Sunday morning. The skier’s body was found around 1 p.m. under 10 feet of snow. Rescue dogs narrowed the search area, but the body was found by rescue crews using a probe.

Sierra Avalanche Center’s website said avalanche danger was considerable on Saturday in the Mt. Rose area, and 16 inches of snow accumulated in Tahoe.

Mt. Rose Highway was closed on Sunday for crews to trigger avalanches in order to increase safety by decreasing the chance of people being caught in natural avalanches.

Madeline Purdue can be reached at mpurdue@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @madelinepurdue.