She wanted to go home, says doctor

The former rajmata of Jaipur, Gayatri Devi, had requested the doctor attending on her on Tuesday evening to let her go home. She breathed her last at the Santokba Durlabhji Memorial Hospital (SDMH) around 4 pm on Wednesday.

According to Dr SC Kalla, pulmonary embolism, or clots in her lung vessel, caused her death. She was suffering from blockage in the intestine, lung infection and pneumonia.  Between the pale orange curtains surrounding her bed at the SDMH’s intensive care unit, Gayatri Devi was under the doctors’ close observation for the past 12 days. She was admitted there on July 17 after returning from London where she was undergoing treatment at the King Edward VII Hospital for the same ailment.

“She had a blocked intestine when she was admitted. It was sorted out through balloon therapy. Later, she developed pneumonia and a lung infection after accidentally inhaling some solid pieces of her vomit. In the last two days, her lung infection was showing signs of improvement. However, she succumbed due to blockage in the lung or pulmonary embolism that interfered with her breathing,” Kalla said.

Her grandsons — Devraj Singh, Prithivipal Singh, Vijit Singh — and few other members of the royal family and close friends were by her side at the hospital when she breathed her last.

“Last evening, she requested me to allow her to go home as her condition had improved. But, later in the evening she complained of breathlessness,” Kalla said.

“She was having breathing problems since Tuesday night. Around 10 this morning, we put her on a ventilator. But, her condition deteriorated later in the day as a blood clot blocked vessels in her lungs.”