By Barbara Ellington, Gleaner WriterTHE MOST Honourable Lady Gladys Bustamante, 91-year-old widow of Sir Alexander Bustamante, National Hero and Jamaica's first prime minister, was on Saturday hospitalised at the Tony Thwaites wing of the University Hospital of the West Indies, Mona, St. Andrew
Seragh Lakasingh, long-time family friend and honorary chairman of the Bustamante Institute of Public Affairs, told The Gleaner that on Friday, Lady Bustamante began showing symptoms which were cause for concern and her nurses called her doctors, who went to see her.
"The doctors recommended that she be hospitalised for a few days so that tests could be carried out to determine the cause of the symptoms. The tests are still being conducted," he said yesterday.
Mr. Lakasingh said that so far there was no evidence of a stroke and no loss of modality. She was having her meals and getting ready to receive visitors, he said at the time of the interview.
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has been informed of Lady Bustamante's hospitalisation and has requested regular updates. Edward Seaga, leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, visited her on Saturday evening.
When The Gleaner visited Lady Bustamante yesterday, she was resting comfortably in a leather recliner and was receiving visitors.
Lady Bustamante, who will be 92 on March 6, is the former Gladys Longbridge of Pearson Ridge, Westmoreland. With Alexander Bustamante, she was at the forefront of the 1938 labour uprisings out of which the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) was formed. Alongside Sir Bustamante, she made significant contributions to the development of trade unionism and politics in Jamaica.
