Koyeri’s family called Aamir when no doctor examined him for hours after an MRI confirmed a brain stroke
Lata Mishra (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 9, 2018)

An intervention by superstar Aamir Khan saved the life of award-winning sound designer Shajith Koyeri, 44, who lay waiting for a doctor for hours at Bandra’s Lilavati Hospital after suffering a stroke on Thursday morning after being admitted with high levels of creatinine.

Aamir, who worked with Koyeri for mega-hit Dangal, arrived at the hospital shortly after midnight on Friday after Koyeri’s family contacted him. Upon learning that not a single doctor had examined Koyeri after he was wheeled out of MRI room, where a scan had confirmed a stroke, he decided to move the sound designer to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Andheri.

As soon as Koyeri’s family authorised him to take decisions on its behalf, he got in touch with industrialist Anil Ambani’s family, which owns and runs the Kokilaben hospital. By 3 am, Koyeri had been moved to the Andheri hospital and on Saturday, doctors said Koyeri’s condition was stable.

Koyeri, a recipient of the National Film Awards for Omkara and two Filmfare and two IIFA Awards, was admitted to Lilavati Hospital on Tuesday. Though he repeatedly complained of extreme uneasiness, his family alleges the hospital did nothing. Koyeri, according to the family, suffered a stroke on Thursday morning and that is when he was taken for an MRI.

While Koyeri was rushed to the intensive care unit (ICU), there were no doctors around to examine him, the family alleged, and the ICU staff kept saying they were waiting for a doctor to arrive. As Koyeri’s condition worsened, the relatives decided to seek Aamir’s help.

Sudhir Manikoth, Koyeri’s brother-in-law, said while a junior doctor noticed eye paralysis on Thursday morning, the patient was wheeled in for an MRI only at 5.30 pm. “Is this how you treat a patient who has suffered a stroke?” he asked. Manikoth also alleged that a cardiologist checked Koyeri six hours after the MRI scan.

Lilavati doctors, however, denied there was any negligence on their part. Dr Hemant Mehta, consultant nephrologist, said when Koyeri was admitted to the hospital he was on the verge of kidney failure. “He was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome. He also suffered from piles, and had to be given blood transfusion to make up for the blood loss,” Dr Mehta said. It was on Thursday morning, Dr Mehta said, that his assistant noticed right eye paralysis and rushed Koyeri for an MRI. “Soon after Koyeri was shifted to the ICU, he also suffered a heart attack,” he said, and added that treatment for heart attack and brain stroke both were started immediately.

Intensivists, he said, were in touch with cardiologist Dr Snehal Kothari, who was out at a social function.

Dr Ajaykumar Pande, vice-president of Lilavati Hospital, said if relatives want to shift a patient to another hospital, it is their right. “But all allegations of delay in treatment are false. Our doctors are available round-the-clock,” he said.

Asked why Koyeri was not administered a clot dissolving injection, which must be given within five hours of a stroke, Dr Mehta said this was not done as the patient’s kidneys were badly damaged and because he suffered from piles. “The family was not willing to wait till the next morning when we had arranged for a neurologist to see the patient,” he said.

Neesha, Koyeri’s sister, expressed her gratitude to Aamir. “Had he not been there, who knows how bad it could have got?” she said.