Triple Olympic gold medalist Leslie Claudius, who is suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, is responding to the treatment and the doctors are hopeful, Bengal Hockey Association secretary Gurbux Singh said.
Claudius had a special visitor on Tuesday morning in the form of former teammate Keshav Dutt, the 87-year-old Olympian, who was also part of the gold medal winning teams in London 1948 and Helsinki 1952.
"He saw both of us but could not recognise. He tried to utter something. His condition is slightly better. Yesterday he was unconscious," Singh said.
"He could recognise his son Brandon this morning. All the tests are being conducted and the doctors are optimistic," Singh added.
The 85-year-old Claudius was admitted to hospital a for second time in three days after he became unconscious and had to be rushed to a super specialty hospital on EM Bypass in the outskirts on Kolkata on Monday afternoon.
Claudius was released from another hospital only on November 3 after being treated for 12 days. State sports minister Madan Mitra has promised full support for the treatment of the legendary hockey player.
Born in Bilaspur in 1927 to a middle class Anglo-Indian family, Claudius was part of India's Olympic gold medal winning side in London 1948, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956 before leading India to a silver medal finish in Rome 1960.
