Asthma patient who was in a coma dies

Dubai: Jody Ann Rodriguez, the Canadian expatriate who slipped into a coma following an asthma attack 15 days ago, breathed her last on Sunday, July 14. According to a doctor attending on her, she suffered a cardiac arrest at around 1pm.

The doctor said: “As soon as the patient suffered a cardiac arrest, a code blue was declared and Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) was initiated. The patient was on ventilator and life support.” However, all attempts at revival were unsuccessful and she was declared dead.

Rodriguez is survived by her husband Jonathan Ali Khan and her sons, Lucas, Mateo, Nico and Ashley who are currently studying abroad.

Rodriguez, 56, a Dubai resident of 12 years, was a chronic asthma patient.

On June 29, she suffered a massive asthma attack at home despite taking recourse to all asthma medication at home such as cortico steroid inhalers and even nebulisation.

A delay in getting help caused severe bronchospasms that cut off oxygen supply to her brain for over 40 minutes until she reached the hospital where she was revived.

However, that resulted in hypoxi (deprivation of oxygen) to the brain cells causing irreversible neurological damage. She was declared to be in Grade 3 coma as per the Glasgow Coma Scale.

This meant there was no motor or brain activity registered and she was surviving on the ventilator and life support machines.

Mourning the loss of his wife, Khan, 58, was too devastated to speak about Rodriguez’ death. Khan had been making plans to fly her to a specialised neurological hospital in Parma near Milan.

The hospital, he said, specialised in long-term treatment of coma patients and their rehabilitation. However, now these plans had to be shelved.

Khan said as per Jody’s wishes, she would be cremated in Dubai itself.