Lehri’s health shows improvement

The ailing comedian is now more communicative and aware of his surroundings.

KARACHI:

It seems like the prayers of Lehri’s fans and well-wishers have been answered, as the legendary comedian’s health seems to have improved. Safeerullah Siddiqui, popularly known as Lehri, has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Liaqat National Hospital for the past two weeks.

On Tuesday morning, The Express Tribune visited Lehri’s ICU ward to find the ailing comedian in better health than last week, when he seemed to be fighting for his life. His son-in-law Asad Mehboob was also present and Lehri seemed to be awake and in his senses as he gestured to Mehboob inquiring who else is in the room with them.

Speaking about Lehri’s health, the doctor on duty Asadullah Siddiqui stated, “There is still some problem in his breathing, and we often try and place the vent off for a few moments to see how much his breathing condition has improved. It hasn’t changed much, but we can only keep a patient on the ventilator for a maximum of 14 days, after that we need to remove it. If his condition remains the same, we might have to perform a tractotomy [to relieve pain].”

While these complications in Lehri’s health persist, his son-in-law looks at the positive side of things and talks about the improvement he has made as compared to before. “Last Saturday, a medication by the name of Polymyxin combined with some others were administered to him and we feel that he has greatly recovered since then.”

Last week, Lehri was on the ventilator and mostly unconscious but since then he has proven to be quite a fighter and is now more aware of his surroundings. As far as opening his eyes, communicating with hand gestures and coming back to his senses is concerned, Mebhoob said, “We have seen much improvement in him since Monday morning when he finally opened his eyes and gestured with his hands, telling us to remove tubes from his mouth.”

Besides Mehboob, present at the hospital was Lehri’s son Kamran Safeer and daughter-in-law Faiza Mehran. Speaking about his father’s health condition, Safeer said, “We can only pray for his recovery and request his numerous fans throughout the world do so as well. We want him to make a comeback and be amongst us once again.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2012.