Vidal recovering at ICU after suffering cardiac arrest

Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal celebrates his 86th birthday in this Feb. 7, 2017 photo in his house at Sto. Niño Village in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City.
CDN FILE PHOTO

Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal is confined at the intensive care unit (ICU) of a private hospital in Cebu City after he suffered a cardiac arrest on Wednesday afternoon.

Fr. Joseph de Aquino, Vidal’s secretary, said medical tests were still being conducted by physicians at the Catholic-run Perpetual Succour Hospital (PSH) to determine the course of treatment.

“The cardinal is confined at the ICU. That’s all I can say for now,” he said in a text message to Cebu Daily News.

Dr. Rene Josef Bullecer, one of the physicians of Vidal, said the cardinal was rushed by his nurse from his retirement house in Sto. Niño Village in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City, to PSH past 2 a.m. last Wednesday, October 11, due to fever and shortness of breathing.

“The whole morning, he was doing well at the hospital. However, in the afternoon of Wednesday, the cardinal suddenly collapsed. He had a cardiac arrest,” he told Cebu Daily News.

Vidal, 86, and the country’s most senior cardinal, went unconscious, prompting Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma to administer the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, which is performed on a seriously ill person for spiritual and physical strength.

Vidal was in coma throughout Thursday. Bullecer said the cardinal, however, showed positive signs on Friday morning when he began to open his eyes.

“We tried to pinch him, and he reacted. That means he has revived his sense of pain. That is really a good development. I can say that he has overcome the worst time of a cardiac arrest,” he said.

Based on their monitoring, Bullecer said Vidal has a blood infection and a bleeding on his kidney.

“We also have a little concern on his brain, but his lungs are clear and there is no problem with his heart,” he said.

Prayer warriors

Bullecer called on the members of the clergy and the faithful to pray for Vidal, who continues to recuperate at the hospital.

“The doctors will do their very best, but the final say will always be God. Let us pray that he will completely recover. The church needs him, particularly his advices (sic),” he said.

Since 2014, Vidal has been going in and out of the hospital due to pneumonia.

Last May, he was confined at a hospital in Manila for the same ailment.

In 2004, Vidal underwent a coronary angiogram procedure, an examination of the heart and blood vessels, and had a pacemaker installed to monitor his heartbeat.

On September 23, 2013, Vidal was rushed to the hospital after a mild stroke.

Vidal was archbishop of Cebu for 29 years before he retired in 2011.

The native of Mogpog in Marinduque chose to spend his retirement years in Cebu where he continues to preside over Masses and attend special events in the country’s biggest archdiocese.

Since his retirement, he has been staying at the Sto. Niño Village in Cebu City.

Vidal is one of the country’s four living cardinals. The others are Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, and Manila Archbishop Emeritus Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales.