Actor Puneeth Rajkumar, who predominantly worked in the Kannada-language film industry, died of cardiac arrest at Vikram Hospital, in Bangalore, on Friday. He was declared dead at 2:30 pm, his doctor said, after his “heart refused to pick up.”
Rajkumar was diagnosed with acute heart attack on Friday. An ECG (Electrocardiogram) was taken on the advise of a family doctor the same day, after he complained of chest pain post his routine morning exercise, according to the hospital statement.
“He was immediately referred to our hospital for further management,” said Dr Ranganath Nayak, cardiologist at Vikram Hospital. “On arrival at our hospital, Mr Puneeth Rajkumar was not responsive and his heart had stopped, which is called cardiac asystole. Immediate advanced cardiac resuscitation was initiated, which includes cardiac massage and defibrillation (shock therapy), and the patient was also put on a ventilator. All other medications to try and revive his heart were administered as well. However, in spite of all that, the patient continued to be non-responsive and the heart just refused to pick up. Hence, after a prolonged struggle by the entire team, consisting of emergency specialists, the intensive care specialist, and the cardiology team, we had to stop resuscitative measures at 2.30 pm. We regret the passing of Mr Puneeth Rajkumar,” Dr Nayak added.
The actor’s remains will be kept at the Kanteerava stadium in Bengaluru for people to pay their homage. His eyes were donated just like those of his father, the legendary actor and singer Rajkumar.
As news broke of the actor suffering a heart attack, fans thronged Vikram Hospital on Friday afternoon and Bengaluru police cordoned off roads adjoining the hospital, including Ali Askar Road and Cunningham Road.
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Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai was among those who rushed to the hospital after hearing the news on Friday.
The Karnataka government has reportedly alerted Bengaluru police to tighten security in the city. Offices in the city have also shut shop early and sent out messages to employees, asking them to “head straight home” to avoid massive traffic jams.
Puneeth first appeared in films as a toddler, starting with Premada Kanike (1976). He later debuted in a lead role with the 2002 film Appu and is still fondly called Appu by fans and peers.
He went on to star in commercially successful films like Mourya (2004), Aakash (2005), Milana (2007), and Jackie (2010), among others.