Veteran actor died on Thursday after suffering a at his residence in Goa. Dr Shekhar Salkar, Chief of the Oncology Department at Manipal Hospital, told ANI that the actor was brought to the hospital after becoming unresponsive and that doctors tried to revive him for around 45 minutes.
The doctor also detailed the sequence of events in the hours before Patekar was taken to hospital, including a message the actor sent to a friend around 2:30 am saying that he was not feeling well.
According to Dr Salkar, Patekar sent a message to a friend at around 2:30 am saying he was unwell. As it was nighttime, the friend did not see the message immediately.
The friend later called Patekar and went to his residence at around 4 am.
“He was sweating” and was gradually becoming unconscious, Dr Salkar said while describing the actor’s condition before he was taken to hospital.
“From what we recalled, at around 2:30, he sent a message to his friend that he was not feeling well. But as it was nighttime, his friend could not see the message. So he just called him. He went to his house at around 4 o’clock. By that time, he was sweating and all. They moved him, all those primary things. But he was slowly becoming unconscious,” Dr Salkar said.
After Patekar became unresponsive, his caretaker was sent to the hospital in an ambulance. An emergency medical team also went to his residence and began CPR after finding the actor completely unresponsive.
Dr Salkar said efforts to revive Patekar continued after he was shifted to Manipal Hospital in the early hours of Thursday.
“When our ER team went there, they started cardiac massage because he was totally unresponsive. They shifted him to our hospital at around 4:20 or 4:30 am. We also tried our best, but he was brought dead,” he said.
According to the doctor, the medical team attempted to revive the actor for around 45 minutes to an hour following the cardiac arrest.
Dr Salkar said a medico-legal case (MLC) was registered following the actor’s death. Patekar’s body was subsequently taken to Goa Medical College for a post-mortem examination.
“Then we had to file a police case because there’s an MLC (medico-legal case). The body has now been taken to the Goa Medical College for post-mortem,” he said.
Dr Salkar also said Patekar’s family members were not present at the time, while his friends and caretaker were with him.
“His family was not there. His friends were there with him and a caretaker,” Dr Salkar said.
Patekar was one of the recognised actors in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He made his acting debut with the 1978 film Gaman and went on to appear in films including Parinda, Prahar, Angaar, Krantiveer, Tiranga, Khamoshi and Ab Tak Chhappan.
The actor continued to work in films in recent years. He appeared in Housefull 5 and played a police officer in Vishal Bhardwaj’s O’Romeo. He also had a cameo in Subedar, starring Anil Kapoor and Radhika Madan.
