Khaleda’s doctors believe she had a ‘mild stroke’

Personal doctors of Khaleda Zia have said they believe the BNP chairperson suffered a mild stroke.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 9 June 2018, 12:30 PM
Updated : 9 June 2018, 05:55 PM

The four physicians visited the former prime minister for more than one and a half hours at the old jailhouse on Nazimuddin Road in Dhaka on Saturday afternoon.   

“She became unconscious and fell on the floor suddenly on the June 5 afternoon. She remained unconscious for five to seven minutes. She can’t remember the moments. Her attendant pulled her from the floor,” Prof FM Siddiqui, a doctor of medicine, told the media after the visit. 

“We’ve checked and found (symptoms of) TIA (transient ischemic attack). It appears to us that she suffered a stroke in a mild form.”

“And the most dangerous thing is that TIA indicates huge possibilities of a major stroke for the person who suffered it,” Siddiqui said.

File Photo: BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was taken to BSMMU from prison for medical tests on Apr 7. She walked from the car to the elevator by herself. Photo: Asif Mahmud Ove

The four doctors recommended admitting her to a specialised hospital ‘very soon’ for medical tests to be sure about their assumption.

They handed the jail authorities a four-page document with their observations and recommendations.

“She feels some uneasiness in speaking, but can communicate,” Siddiqui said.

“She cannot keep her balance sometimes when she walks. She feels unsteady.”   

The doctors said the special tests they recommended for Khaleda can be conducted at the United Hospital.

The three other doctors were Prof Syed Wahidur Rahman of neuro-medicine, eye specialist Abdul Quddus and cardiologist Mohammad Mamun.

They entered the jailhouse to see Khaleda on permission of the jail authorities around 4pm.

The jail authorities declined to comment on the observations and recommendations by Khaleda’s doctors.  

Neither Inspector General of Prisons Syed Iftekhar Uddin nor Dhaka Central Jail Senior Superintendent Jahangir Kabir received phone calls from bdnews24.com.

Later, Kabir replied to a SMS saying he cannot comment on the issue.

BNP leaders have also demanded Khaleda be shifted to the United Hospital for treatment, alleging that the authorities were not providing good treatment for their “ailing” leader.

According to BNP's Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, it is the first time the authorities let her personal physicians visit her after five attempts.

He told the media on Friday night that her relatives described her ‘heart-breaking’ conditions after visiting her in jail.

“They said the leader fell after vertigo on June 5. She is suffering from fever for three weeks. Her temperature isn’t getting down,” Rizvi said.

The party has announced protest programmes for Sunday demanding better treatment for her.

Earlier on Friday, BNP leader Moudud Ahmed threatened tougher protests to oust the Awami League government.

Khaleda, who has been in jail since Feb 8 for corruption in Zia Orphanage Trust, fell ill in March.

A medical board formed by the government for her treatment said after visiting her that her illness was ‘nothing serious’.

She also underwent medical tests at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in April.