14 DAY TRIAL // Despite initial reports that she was being taken out of her coma by doctors, comedienne Joan Rivers is still on life support after being hospitalized in a serious condition due to suffering a cardiac arrest last week. The news comes from her daughter, Melissa Rivers, who has issued an official statement.
The 81-year-old Rivers was rushed to hospital in New York City after she stopped breathing during an outpatient surgery on her vocal chords at a Manhattan clinic. Her state remained serious all through the weekend, and there have been no official reports until today.
Melissa has said in her statement quoted by Radar, “On behalf of my mother and our family, we are extremely grateful for all the love and support we've received. At this time, she does remain on life support.”
She has also added that “I know my mother would be overwhelmed by the continued outpouring of kindness and I want to thank everyone for keeping us in their prayers.”
Rivers remains in a medically induced coma at the Mount Sinai Hospital, and fans are fearing for her well-being, as is her family. Unconfirmed reports from earlier this week said that Rivers was feeling better and doctors were preparing to pull her out of her coma and evaluate any brain damage.
The official statement contradicts these reports, indicating that Rivers hasn't been pulled out of her coma since Thursday, when she was first brought in. Life support is given to a patient in order to keep vital organs such as the brain, heart, lungs, liver and kidneys working, and thus keeping the patient alive.
Doctors have said that the age of a patient is not that important in the case of a cardiac arrest, as is the care given right after the arrest occurred. If the condition of the patient improves, the doctor may decide to remove the life support.
Joan Rivers, a successful actress as well as a stand-up comedienne, had joked just days prior to her intervention that she was a “plastic surgery poster girl.”
A representative for her family claimed that the media reports according to which Joan's family planned to sue the private clinic where Rivers underwent the surgery were completely false.
Right after the incident was announced, fans poured in with the well-wishing and said they were keeping Joan in their prayers. The taping of Joan's TV show “Fashion Police” was postponed this week due to her inability to appear.