Doctors and nurses treating 103-year-old H.S. Doreswamy saw him as a fighter. But for the last 10 days, he refused medicine and food, they said.
C.N. Manjunath, director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, where Mr. Doreswamy was admitted said he had turned very philosophical.
“He kept telling us that he had lived a full life and insisted that his bed be given to a young person.. He questioned why he should get such good treatment. I tried to convince him and tell him we have no shortage of beds,” he said.
He added that political activist Ravikrishna Reddy, who visited him when he was in the hospital, would convince him to eat food and take medicines.
Mr. Doreswamy was hospitalised on May 6 after he tested positive for COVID-19. He was discharged on May 12 as his condition improved.
But, he was brought to the hospital again on May 14 after he faced breathing difficulty. Doctors said his oxygen saturation levels were always normal.
According to Dr. Manjunath, the freedom fighter had a chronic obstructive lung disease and a valvular heart disease for the last decade.
On Wednesday morning, he started showing symptoms of heart failure and suffered a cardiac arrest. “While the primary cause of his death was his heart condition, the precipitating cause was COVID-19,” said Dr. Manjunath.
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