Sir John Compton, the late Prime Minister of St. Lucia.

CASTRIES, St. Lucia (CMC):

Sir John Compton, St. Lucia's 'Father of the Nation', died Friday night at age 82, officials here confirmed.

Surrounded by members of his family, the island's first prime minister who had been ailing since suffering a series of small strokes in May, died at around 7.30 p.m. at the private Tapion Hospital where he was being kept on a ventilator as he battled what his team of doctors identified as a severe case of pneumonia.

The officials said doctors at the health facility on the outskirts of the city reported the Prime Minister's systems "shut down".

critical condition

Less than 24 hours earlier, the doctors, while contradicting previous government statements that Sir John was being kept on a life support system, described his health condition as critical.

"I must tell you that the pneumonia is a very severe one, and we don't know how he is going to come through. We hope we can, with the assistance of our doctors involved in his management, pull him through. But the situation is very critical and we have no guarantees that Sir John will survive this respiratory infection," said consultant physician Dr. Martin Didier.

Sir John, who led his United Workers' Party to victory in the December 2006 General Election, handed over the day-to-day running of the government to acting Prime Minister Stephenson King when his medical condition caused him to be hospitalised in a United States hospital.

On his return to St. Lucia, it was reported that his condition was improving, until he recently suffered another stroke.

Sir John leaves to mourn his wife Lady Janice and five children.