J Jayalalithaa communicated in sign language and was responding and communicating for a week before she collapsed after a cardiac arrest, Chennai’s Apollo hospital said today, speaking for the first time on the former Chief Minister’s death in December in an attempt to “dispel rumours”.
“It was severe infection with damage to organs that led to her death,” said Richard Beale, the British doctor who treated the 68-year-old in her final weeks.
Ms Jayalalithaa died of what the doctors called a “sudden” cardiac arrest on December 5 after nearly three months in hospital. Her collapse at the end was completely unexpected, they said.
Throughout her hospital stay, there was speculation about her true condition, with many wondering whether the gravity of her health was largely hidden from the public to keep up appearances that Ms Jayalalithaa was firmly in charge. Only a very close group of people, including her longtime companion VK Sasikala, were allowed access to her.
Dr Beale said the former Chief Minister was “conscious and responding” after her condition improved somewhat after the initial infection, when she was brought to hospital for shortness of breath.
“She was very much completely aware and interactive,” said the British doctor. “When I said I’m in charge, she said, ‘no, I am in charge’,” he shared.
Another doctor confirmed that the politician was conscious when she signed off on an election document.
Ms Jayalalithaa’s thumb imprint on that document only served to fuel more speculation that she was not conscious. Many skeptics, including the opposition DMK, took to demanding proof that the Chief Minister was in fine health.
The doctors stressed that it is “not normal practice to photograph people who are critically ill, it is regarded as intrusion”.
