-suffered brain haemorrhaging
PNCR-1G MP Winston Murray was at press time still unconscious following cerebral hemorrhaging and remained on a respirator in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC).
According to a senior medical source, the unconsciousness was caused by cerebral hemorrhaging and not a serious fall as was reported yesterday. The prognosis for recovery was given as poor.
Murray, 69, collapsed while standing in a line at McDoom, East Bank Demerara, early Thursday evening and gave his car key to a public-spirited citizen whom he told to take him to the Balwant Singh Hospital. He was later transferred to the GPHC.
Last evening, a number of persons, including Murray’s wife, Marva, and one of his two sons, Mark Winston Murray, gathered at the hospital as they hoped for the best. Mark, the younger of Murray’s two sons, last evening told Stabroek News at the hospital that his father was looking better than he was when he saw him on Thursday night. “Of course we were shocked at first… and I came to the hospital last night [Thursday night] and he was not looking too good but he looked better today, he looked more stable,” the young man said.
The young man said he plans to visit the location where his father fell since he was still trying to understand what happened.
He said while he did not see his father for the week, his mother did and she said he appeared to be alright. Mark said that the family is “holding up as could be given his circumstances” and that he has been constantly visiting the hospital to be with his father. About whether they might consider flying his father out for further treatment, Mark said they would rely on the advice of the doctors.
According to a senior medical source, even if Murray had not collapsed he would have still been hospitalized in a critical condition as it was the haemorrhage which would have caused him to collapse.
A statement from the GPHC yesterday said Murray was seen by Consultant Physicians in Internal Medicine and Neurosurgery and the results of a CT scan revealed severe haemorrhage to his brain. Sources say it appears there could have been an aneurysm, which led to Murray’s severe bleeding.
Sources had indicated that doctors at the GPHC were prepared for a surgical procedure to relieve his state of unconsciousness but there were complications which prevented them from doing so. Murray is a diabetic and following the fall he also had an irregular heartbeat.
As doctors continue to fight to save him, hospital sources yesterday said that Guyanese neurosurgeon Dr Ivor Crandon has been contacted in Jamaica and he was expected to fly in to Guyana sometimes last night to treat Murray.
Meanwhile, at a press conference yesterday, PNCR Leader Robert Corbin said, “We’re trying to ensure he gets the best possible medical treatment available at this time. The various medical avenues have been explored and we have been in touch with a neurosurgeon specialist who is not in Guyana but who has had [a] connection with the Georgetown Hospital and in fact he has been sort of guiding the process since early last evening.
So he’s in constant touch with the surgeons at the Georgetown Hospital and they’ve been sharing information, the scans and doing evaluations on a very regular basis as to what could be done to offer him a speedy recovery.”
But the problem, Corbin noted, is the fact that there are a number of complications. He said although the hospital brought out all of his doctors on Thursday night and they had hoped to do a surgical intervention to relieve some bleeding in the brain, they were unable to do so because of the other complications.
“Immediately after he was hospitalized, the government showed an interest in the matter; both the Prime Minister and the president called me and indicated that the government was prepared to make whatever facilities that were available to ensure that he was brought to a speedy recovery.
And I’ve been in contact with (Minister of Health) Dr. (Leslie) Ramsammy and the hospital officials who were all very cooperative last evening and brought out the staff and necessary personnel and to ensure that he had the best facilities at the Georgetown Hospital.
To that extent, yes, we have been in touch with them and right now we will be making further requests if the need arises to ensure that we can do what is in our power to ensure he gets the best treatment,” Corbin said yesterday.
Recently, Murray, an economist and a practising attorney, has been part of national outreaches as part of his bid to be the PNCR’s candidate. His campaign has seen him and supporters aggressively reaching out to the party membership across the country in an effort to concretise support for his bid. So far, they have met with members of PNCR groups over the last year in regions 3,4,6,9 and 10.
Last year, Murray, who was Deputy Prime Minister under Desmond Hoyte and had previously served as the Chairman of the PNCR, ran an unsuccessful campaign to be the party leader.
