Manila, Philippines – Three days after collapsing due to cardiac arrest, basketball great Samboy Lim is now in stable condition although he remains unconscious in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of The Medical City in Meralco Avenue, Pasig City.
A source said yesterday that the vital signs of the 52-year-old Lim are all good, though he is still in a “state of unconsciousness” or in medical term “comatose” and that the important thing for him is to wake up.
“He’s in deep sleep, that’s his condition now. They’re waiting for him to wake up,” said the source who asked not to be named as she is not in authority to discuss the medical status of Lim.
“Other than that, vital signs of Mr. Lim are ok. His heart rate is ok, respiratory rate, his blood pressure. All are ok,” added the Bulletin source.
Lim has been confined at Medical City since Friday when he collapsed while playing in an exhibition match together with other former PBA players at the Ynares Center in Pasig City.
As of presstime, there has been no medical report on Lim from Medical City although another source said that Lim’s brain condition – how severe the damage is – would be known today.
Lim is under the Targeted Temperature Management or (TTM), also known as therapeutic hypothermia, said the source.
According to Wikipedia, a TTM is an active treatment that tries to achieve and maintain a specific body temperature in a person for a specific duration of time in an effort to improve health outcomes.
A person under TTM is also done in an attempt to reduce the risk of tissue injury from lack of blood flow. Periods of poor blood flow may be due to cardiac arrest or the blockage of an artery by a clot such as may occur in stroke.
“This is being done to a person who had a cardiac arrest, especially outside of a hospital,” said the source.
“As for the unconscious state of Mr. Lim, study shows that 20 percent of persons who suffered cardiac arrest wakes up with good neurological status. So far, there are no other signs or symptoms the patient is showing,” added the source.
Relatives, friends, former teammates and even opponents of Lim when he was still playing in the PBA were all shocked that this happened to him even though he lives a clean and healthy lifestyle.
Even after his retirement in 1997 following a colorful 12-year career in the PBA where he played for only one team that is San Miguel Beer, Lim has kept himself active in playing pick up and exhibition games.
That includes a goodwill game with his fellow PBA Legends like Alvin Patrimonio, Nelson Asaytono, Jerry Codinera, Bal David, Vince Hizon, EJ Fiehl, Jerome Ejercito and playing coach Bogs Adornado last Friday.