Doctor Predrag Lalević was a member of the medical council that took care of Marshal Josip Broz Tito and spent 16 years with him.
According to the official version, on May 4, 1980, Josip Broz Tito, the president of socialist Yugoslavia, died. However, according to his doctor, Tito actually died the day before, while the devices that kept him alive were turned off only the next day, when the death was officially announced.
Predrag Lalević, a surgeon and anesthesiologist who accompanied Tito for 16 years and was with him on 106 trips abroad, previously described for Telegraf the last months of his life in a hospital in Ljubljana.
He was part of a team of doctors who fought for four months to keep the marshal alive. It was he who was remembered for the decision to turn off the devices that kept Tito alive.
– Hemodialysis was started in the morning. However, after some time there was a sudden drop in blood pressure that could not be stabilized, so the procedure had to be stopped. All the members of the council, the doctors on duty, as well as the nurses who took care of the president, gathered around the bed. Tito slowly passed out, Lalević said, reports Nova.rs.
As he stated, although the ventilator worked without problems, the changes on the EKG clearly indicated that the end was near.
Lalević also described the moment when the death was officially confirmed:
– At 3:05 p.m., the EKG showed a flat line, which meant that the heart had stopped beating. We stood next to the bed for another fifteen minutes in complete silence. Then I looked at Professor Bogdan Brecelj, the oldest member of the council, and pointed to the machines that were still working. He nodded, which was my cue to turn them off. I turned off the ventilator, EKG monitor, pacemaker, and medication pump. After that we left the room, Lalević recalled.
