A medical examiner in Arizona has released details of the death of Alexander Dale Oen, according to Reuters, and has declared atherosclerotic coronary artery disease as the official cause of death.
“Based on the autopsy findings and the investigative history that is available to me, it is my opinion that Alexander Dale-Oen died of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease,” Coconino County medical examiner Lawrence Czarnecki said in his official report.
The report went on to point to a blood clot in one of his arteries as the more specific cause of the attack.
Dale Oen, a Norwegian, was the 2011 World Champion in the 100 breaststroke. He passed away while on a training camp in late April in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Coronary artery disease is the most common cause of death in the world.
If you have a history of family heart disease you need to go get your heart checked out. Doesn’t matter what kind of shape you are in.
There was an article I read that got a little more in depth, indicating that one of his grandfathers had died suddenly at 42 from a heart attack, and that Dale Oen had suffered the equivalent of a few mini heart attacks a month or two before he passed.
The second tests revealed “severe atherosclerotic disease of the coronary arteries” supplying blood to the heart, and found that the left descending artery was “occluded” by “atherosclerotic plaque.”
They now also believe his shoulder pain, which was thought to be caused by a pinched nerve, is now related to his heart problem.
Really sad, and extremely uncommon in someone so young, but hopefully it brings closure to his family… Read more »