Grant Wahl's death was caused by an aortic aneurysm

[malaise]

according to his wife. His brother apologized for raising suspicion.
Sadly this young man ignored all the signs

[Celerity]

1. a true tragedy, and the added sting is that he will not get to see the North American-hosted 2026 WC

[Irish_Dem]

2. His brother had the right to ask the question.

A seemingly healthy person died suddenly in a country with a restrictive regime hostile to the west.

[Celerity]

5. Restrictive regime yes, but not hostile to the West. Qatar & the United States are strategic allies.

Biden Designates Qatar as a Major Non-NATO Ally

The move clears the way for greater security cooperation and investment at a time when President Biden is seeking help boosting natural gas supplies in Europe.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/us/politics/biden-qatar-nato.html

https://archive.ph/ebo86

WASHINGTON — President Biden on Monday named Qatar as a “major non-NATO ally” of the United States, a designation that clears the way for greater security cooperation and investment in the Gulf nation at a time when Mr. Biden is seeking help boosting natural gas supplies in Europe.

The president is eager to reassure European nations that they will not suffer natural gas shortages if a war between Ukraine and Russia breaks out in the weeks ahead. Russia is one of the largest suppliers of natural gas to Germany and other countries in western Europe.

Mr. Biden informed reporters of the planned designation on Monday before a meeting at the White House with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the emir of Qatar. The president praised the relationship between the two countries over the past half-century on issues like Afghanistan, the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, and the fight against the Islamic State. “I am notifying Congress that I will designate Qatar as a major non-NATO ally to reflect the importance of our relationship,” Mr. Biden said. “I think it’s long overdue.”

Only 17 other countries have been granted that status by American presidents. They include Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Jordan, New Zealand, Thailand, Kuwait, Morocco, Pakistan, Bahrain, Philippines, Argentina, Afghanistan and Tunisia. Former President Donald Trump conferred the status on Brazil in 2019.

snip

[Irish_Dem]

7. I should have said hostile to western culture.

[Celerity]

9. oil trumps hostility to Western culture too often when it comes to US foreign policy, unfortunately

[Irish_Dem]

11. Exactly.

Autocracies are hoping to use their financial power to leverage control over democracies.

[Celerity]

12. +1

[former9thward]

25. He did not ask any question.

He claimed his brother was killed for wearing a Pride shirt. That inflammatory statement is the opposite of a question.

[malaise]

3. That's the worst part

A very close friend of mine had a horrific stomach ache and decided that going for a run and some heavy exercise would resolve it. When he returned home and still felt lousy he took all kinds of stupid remedies. When he finally called his doctor, the doctor told him to get his ass to the hospital - he was more than likely having a heart attack.
His doctor knew his family history and my friend's dad had his first heart attack at the same age - mid-50s. He was having a heart attack - and given that he has two kids who are doctors he got basic treatment here and then went overseas to be watched by the kids. He's still around 20 years later - couple of stents and regular check ups.

[Kid Berwyn]

4. That can appear as a heart attack.

Sometimes doctors and trained ER teams can misdiagnose aortic tears.

Sad to read this is what took Mr. Wahl’s life. Many years ago, it almost took my father-in-law’s.

[malaise]

6. The hard truth is that when you're fairly young and think you're healthy

you often ignore signs

[Kid Berwyn]

8. Likely would never enter, let alone cross, one's mind.

Life truly is a miracle. It would be great if all humans realized that. This world could then become a paradise.

[helpisontheway]

24. John Ritter (Jack,Three's Comoany) died from this. I think I read that they misdiagnosed

it. They were treating it as a heart attack and he died..

[Wounded Bear]

10. I tend to avoid commenting on sudden deaths like this for this reason...

Have to feel for his family and friends. Far too young to go.

[malaise]

13. Particularly since his wife is a medical doctor

Sad indeed

[greatauntoftriplets]

14. My father had an aortic aneurysm years ago.

It was discovered by a lucky accident. He never had symptoms and had surgery before it could rupture. They're very scary things.

[Beausoleil]

15. The same thing happened to me 3 years ago

My doctor scheduled me for a CT scan based on elevated BP and the fact that my brother had a quad bypass earlier in the year. She immediately sent me to a cardiovascular surgeon when the results came back.

I had major surgery to replace part of my abdominal aorta and was in ICU for 8 days. They couldn't do an endovascular repair because I have a nickel allergy.

I am extremely lucky to be alive.

My cardiologist told me that nicotine specifically ate away at the walls of the aorta. I had switched to vaping 5 years before but it was no problem throwing that away since I had reduced my nicotine intake to almost nothing.

Every time I hear about aortic aneurysms it makes me cringe!

[malaise]

17. Family medical history is always to be considered

You have a good doctor

[Beausoleil]

19. She's Jamaican!

I love her!

[greatauntoftriplets]

21. I never knew that about smoking.

It makes sense because my father was one, and only gave it up when he died 30 years ago of kidney failure.

He had been hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer and the aneurysm was discovered during a routine x-ray. He had to go back every month afterwards for more x-rays so the doctor could track the aneurysm's expansion. It only took about six months to grow enough for the surgery.

Fortunately, he was assigned the hospital's best cardiac surgeon and it went well. He was amazingly calm about it. It was my sister, my mother and I who were freaking out. He also spent time in ICU, but that was because the hospital's SHU (surgical heart unit) was full. It was several days, then a week or so more in a regular room. This was a long time ago so my memories aren't necessarily the best.

I think that his surgery must have been pre-endovascular, because he had a scar on his chest that went from just below the breast bone to way past his waist. I never saw where it ended.

To this day, the thought of an aneurysm scares me. My father's DNA is very strong in me, but I've never smoked.

I'm happy that yours was caught, too.

[Beausoleil]

22. I was amazingly calm but my wife was a wreck.

My scar goes from just below the breastbone to just under the navel. That was kind of unsettling.

There's no family history of it and I smoked for 40 years. My cardiologist made a big point of the nicotine as the cause interacting some enzyme common in white middle-aged males.

[greatauntoftriplets]

23. My father was 70 at the time of his surgery, so a bit past middle age.

Once he was out of ICU, he recovered quickly. His scar extended lower than yours, but they probably have improved how the surgery is done since 1980. As I recall, he went back to work part time about a month after he got out of the hospital.

I'm not at all surprised that your wife was a wreck. Congratulations on having the good luck to have the aneurysm fixed before it blew.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. That's A Bomb Waiting To Go Off

50 years ago, his outcome would have been the same for nearly everyone.
I knew a GREAT basketball player from another HS. He was set up to go to Georgetown as the first of Thompson's big men. He was 6'9" in his junior year.
He developed Marfan's Syndrome from his rapid growth. In those days, there was no test.
He dropped dead after practice almost exactly 49 years ago today. Had a dime size rupture in his aorta. Not yet 18 years old.
Same thing that killed the great women's volleyball player, Flo Hyman. She was only in her 20s.

[malaise]

18. Happebed to a co-worker's 24 year old son

He literally collapsed on the football field. His father had died the same way in his early 40s.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. Wow!

That's some unfortunate genetics.