NEWSFLASH

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DOLPHY FINE AFTER HEART SURGERY

Makati City, August 1, 1998 - Actor-director Eric Quizon confirmed that his father, Comedy King Dolphy went through a 3-hour double bypass heart surgery at the Makati Medical Center last Thursday.

He is now in stable condition, is recovering fast, and is expected to be taken out of the intensive care unit this weekend, Eric said in a phone interview on nationwide TV.

A top-notch team of heart surgeons headed by world-famous Dr. George Garcia performed t he bypass surgery from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to remove blood-clotted arteries.

Eric said his father was conscious a few hours after the surgery and was able to move his head and wave to his wife, singer-actress Zsa Zsa Padilla, and his children who all trooped to the hospital to be by his bedside when he regained consciousness.

Dolphy, who turned 70 last July 25, was rushed to the hospital early Thursday complaining of massive chest pains. He had just returned July 21 from the US where he underwent his third angioplasty , a laser procedure to clear clogged or hardened arteries. The doctors who examined him in the US ruled that he did not need any operation.

Zsa Zsa Padilla told her in-laws how upset she was that the comedian's American doctors misled him into believing that he was in tip-top form.

Although Dolphy's blood type B is difficult to find, a steady supply was provided by donors from ABS-CBN who came forward voluntarily to help their idol and friend.