Vivek, Tamil film actor, dies in Chennai hospital

Tamil film actor Vivek died in a Chennai hospital in the early hours of Saturday at the age of 59.

Vivek was admitted to SIMS Hospital in Vadapalani where he underwent an angioplasty and stenting procedure on Friday for a complete block in a critical blood vessel of the heart.

He was put on an ECMO support in the intensive care unit. "He passed away at 4.35am," a medical bulletin from the hospital said.

The 59-year-old actor was brought to the emergency room of the hospital in an unconscious condition around 11am on Friday by his wife and daughter after he complained of discomfort.

Hospital vice-president Dr Raju Sivasamy said the sudden attack was due to an acute coronary syndrome with a cardiogenic shock. It was not related to the Covid-19 vaccine he took on Thursday, they said.

Test and CT reports showed that he did not have Covid-19. This was the first time that the actor had come to hospital with an attack like this, Dr Sivasamy said. Vivek had a “mild elevated blood pressure.” On Thursday, the actor was declared as state’s ambassador for creating public health messages.

He took the Covaxin in Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital in Chennai and urged many others to come forward to take the vaccine.