Tamil Nadu was on alert after Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening. “She is being treated and monitored by a team of experts including cardiologists, pulmonologists and critical care specialists,” reads a bulletin issued by the hospital.
“She is on extracorporeal membrane heart assist device and is being treated by a team of expert doctors and critical care specialists. Dr Richard Beale from London has also been consulted and he has concurred with the line of treatment by our cardiologists & pulmonologists,” said the hospital in a tweet later.
In the morning at 5.45 pm, alerts were sent to all Tamil Nadu ministers and Governor C Vidyasagar Rao. “Five ministers, including Finance Minister O Panneerselvam, were already in Chennai. All other ministers who had gone to the districts over the weekend also started returning to Chennai. Governor Rao, who was attending the Navy Day function in Mumbai, boarded a flight to Chennai,” said an officer as per a report in Indian Express.
Just after the Apollo’s statement, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh talked to the Governor and asked about her health. President Pranab Mukherjee too conveyed his concern on Twitter saying, “Distressed to hear about CM Jayalalithaa suffering a cardiac arrest, my prayers for her speedy recovery.”
In Tamil Nadu, top officials including DGP T K Rajendran, and IG (Intelligence) K N Sathyamurthy rushed to the hospital.
As soon as the news broke out, supporters started gathering at the hospital. About 1,000 personnel were on duty outside the hospital around midnight. Police also had tough time controlling the crowd.
As per a senior doctor, Jayalalithaa’s condition was improving slowly. “She was in very bad shape when she was hospitalised. In the last four weeks, there was remarkable progress, rare for an acute diabetic with lung and heart problems. So this cardiac arrest is definitely a setback. But she is being provided the best treatment and is being attended to by all specialists,” the doctor said.
Even hours before the hospital issued the bulletin; the AIADMK claimed that the Chief Minister would return home soon. “The AIIMS doctors visited the hospital yesterday and after examining her health, they shared the good news with us that Amma has completely recovered,” said the party spokesperson C Ponnaiyan.
