Former South African president FW de Klerk is to undergo a tracheotomy, his spokesperson Dave Steward confirmed on Tuesday afternoon.
This will provide relief when De Klerk — who was president from 1989 to 1994 — regains consciousness, Steward said, noting that the ventilator tube that is assisting his breathing is at present fed through his mouth.
Noting that he has never been taken off the ventilator, Steward said that De Klerk breathed on his own accord on Monday, but was again dependent on the ventilator after an infection developed in his lungs. The ventilator had not been taken out at any point, he said.
Steward said, however, De Klerk’s condition ”is stable” and his wife, Elita, and daughter, Susan, from De Klerk’s first marriage had been at the hospital — the Panorama clinic in Cape Town — on Tuesday.
”Later this afternoon he will be having a tracheotomy so as to introduce the [ventilator] pipe directly into his throat … At the moment it is going through his mouth, which is very uncomfortable. This is a normal procedure,” said Steward, who noted De Klerk is still in intensive care.
The tracheotomy, Steward explained, will create a small hole in De Klerk’s throat. ”When he regains consciousness he will be much more comfortable.”
De Klerk originally went to hospital the weekend before last to have a cancerous growth removed from his colon. He has been sedated for about a week.
Earlier on Tuesday, Steward said De Klerk had developed a ”slight infection” in his lungs. ”They [doctors] are obviously worried about any infection and are looking for the cause and treating it with appropriate antibiotics.” — Sapa, I-Net Bridge