Comedian Raju Srivastav is no more, dies at 58 at AIIMS

NEW DELHI: Popular comedian Raju Srivastav passed away at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Wednesday morning, his family said. He was 58.

Srivastav who suffered a heart attack while working out in a gym on August 10 was in coma for the last month or more and never regained consciousness. He was put on ventilator and assisted breathing and his family was hopeful he would recover.

His family said the comedian died at 10.20 am Wednesday after spending 41 days in hospital in coma and on ventilator.

The 58-year-old stand-up comedian suffered a heart attack while he was working out in a South Delhi gym which was part of a 5-star hotel.

He complained that he felt uneasy when he was moved to the hospital. He underwent an angioplasty the same day and was on a ventilator ever since. He was not able to breathe on his own, however, there was hope his brain would eventually recover.

“He was doing his routine exercise and while he was on the treadmill, he suddenly fell down. He suffered a heart attack and was immediately taken to the AIIMS hospital,” Raju Srivastava’s cousin had earlier told news agency PTI.

Over the past few days, the comedian’s health had witnessed significant fluctuations. On 25th August there were reports of Raju gaining consciousness but his brother Dipoo Srivastava told ABP News that the family had no such information from the doctors.

Dipoo had also said that the comedian has shown minor improvement and is recovering slowly. He claimed Raju had slightly moved his hands, which was considered a positive sign.

However, post this there was no improvement for several days and privately doctors had given up hope of a recovery.