Sports journalist Grant Wahl, who suddenly collapsed on Friday while reporting on Argentina's game against the Netherlands in the World Cup in Qatar, died of a ruptured blood vessel leading to his heart, according to his wife, Céline Gounder, in a statement on Wednesday.
The autopsy conducted in New York revealed that Wahl, 49, suffered an aneurysm (an abnormal bulge or bulge in the blood vessel walls) in the ascending aorta (which carries oxygenated blood from the heart), "slow-growing, not detected, with hemopericardium," according to his wife.
"The chest pressure that he experienced shortly before he died could have been the initial symptom. Neither CPR nor shocks would have saved him. His death was not related to COVID-19 or his vaccination status," he said in a statement.
Grant Wahl Getty Images
"There was nothing nefarious in his death," he said, dismissing any suspicion that his death had been provoked, after the journalist's brother cast doubt on a video on social networks about his sudden death and mentioned the threats of death he had suffered after refusing to remove the rainbow shirt in favor of the LGBTQ community.
"It's one of those things that's probably been years in the making," Gounder said Wednesday on CBS News.
Fellow American media outlets sitting near him said he collapsed after extra time in the match, while sitting in a press area at the Iconic Lusail Stadium, and they immediately called 911.
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"He received immediate emergency medical treatment
on site
, which continued while he was transferred by ambulance to Hamad General Hospital," the World Cup organizing committee said in a statement, which did not specify the cause of death.
He was pronounced dead shortly after being admitted to the hospital.
His body arrived in New York on Monday and was transferred to the local coroner.
On the Monday before he collapsed, Wahl posted on his website that he had been feeling unwell and had been told by local medical staff that he probably had bronchitis and was given antibiotics.
“My body finally fell apart.
Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and work can do that," Wahl wrote.
“What had been a cold for the past 10 days turned into something more serious the night of the USA vs. Netherlands game, and I could feel my upper chest taking on a new level of pressure and discomfort,” he revealed. she.
The journalist tested negative for COVID-19.
“Today I went to the main media center clinic and they told me that I probably have bronchitis.
I've been given antibiotics and a very strong cough syrup, and already feeling a little better a few hours later.
But still: it's not good," Wahl explained.
"Diego enlightened them."
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Wahl graduated from Princeton in 1996 and worked for Sports Illustrated from 1996 to 2021 and Fox Sports from 2012 to 2019. He launched his own website some time ago.
Qatar was the eighth World Cup he had covered, but his health had worried him since he started the tournament.
His wife described him in the statement as "a great journalist" and "as a man who approached the world with frankness and love."
"Grant was an incredibly empathetic, dedicated and loving husband, brother, uncle and son who was our greatest partner and fan," she said, "We will always cherish the gift of a lifetime; sharing his company was our greatest love and source of joy." .
