Wife: Journalist Wahl died of aortic aneurysm at World Cup
Grant Wahl died of a ruptured blood vessel when he was stricken while covering a World Cup match last weekend, according to an autopsy of the well-known American soccer writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Grant Wahl died of a ruptured blood vessel when he was stricken while covering a World Cup match last weekend, according to an autopsy of the well-known American soccer writer.
Wahl's wife, Dr. Céline Gounder, said Wednesday that an autopsy was conducted by the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office.
“Grant died from the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium,” she wrote on her husband's website, referring to the wall that surrounds the heart. “The chest pressure he experienced shortly before his death may have represented the initial symptoms. No amount of CPR or shocks would have saved him. His death was unrelated to COVID. His death was unrelated to vaccination status. There was nothing nefarious about his death.”
Wahl, who was 49, was stricken in the media tribune of Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar early Saturday during extra time in Argentina's quarterfinal match against the Netherlands. Emergency workers immediately attended to him and treated him for 20 to 30 minutes before taking him away on a stretcher, reporters in his vicinity said.
