PART1: MALAWI'S PRESIDENT BINGU WA MUTHARIKA DIES, APRIL 2012: MOVIE LIKE HAPPENINGS-, POWER PLAY, PILOTS, SOUTH AFRICA, A BROTHER, - THE PREDICAMENT OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT!
Credits: Idriss A Nassah
THURSDAY, 5 APRIL 2012 the scenes unfold, get your cup of coffee fam, its about to go down.
Bingu wa Mutharika, was fine at the beginning of the day on Thursday, 5th April 2012. He had his breakfast with the First Lady as usual. While in the office, he attended to some few telephone calls and started meeting some of the people who had appointments with him that morning
Then, around 11:10 am the president collapsed in the audience room while having audience with a Member of Parliament from his party at the State House in Lilongwe.
Pandemonium then ensued:
He was immediately carried to his office but at that point the he could neither speak nor respond & was breathing with difficulties. State House only had first aid kits, did not have facilities intended for the medical care of the President. So he was rushed to a public hospital
On arrival at Kamuzu Central Hospital, Bingu's eyes were closed, he was motionless, could not respond to anything and that there appeared to be no sign of life in him. He was placed in the ICU unit and connected to the machines but there was no response or sign of life whatsoever
Even the electrocardiogram (ECG) machine showed no sign of life. Its reading was a straight line, which in medical terms is referred to as “asystole”; NOLIFE.
Unfortunately, some essential emergency drugs needed to assist the president were not immediately available in the ICU such that some ICU staff were assigned to look for those drugs elsewhere within or outside the hospital.
Medical personnel tried CPR continuously for about 30 minutes, but soon realised the president was dead and that they should abandon the procedure. However, the President’s personal physician advised that the CPR should continue.
Defibrillators were also brought in to try and shock the president to induce heartbeat. These were tried on the president up to the maximum level for four times but there was still no response. After carrying on with the CPR for another 30 minutes, the staff in the ICU got tired.
The President’s physician was asked if they could stop the CPR but he refused and insisted that it goes on. As the CPR continued, it was noted after an hour that they had broken some ribs on the president in the process.
Senior doctors then told Peter Mutharika, the president's brother, that Bingu was dead. Peter told the doctors to still continue with the resuscitation efforts since the CPR procedure could be continued for up to three hours according to some medical literature that he had read.
At around 1:50 pm doctors agreed that there was nothing else that could be done. Bingu was dead. It was then decided that family members be called in to view the body. In came the First Lady, his daughter, Peter & lastly a Catholic Priest who gave the last anointing prayer.
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