Soccer Journalist Died of a Burst Blood Vessel
Grant Wahl, the American soccer journalist who died suddenly last week at the World Cup in Qatar, had a rupture in a blood vessel leading from the heart, his family announced Wednesday.
An autopsy conducted after his body was returned to the United States revealed the 49-year-old experienced a catastrophic rupture in the ascending aorta — an aneurysm — which carries oxygenated blood from the heart.
The autopsy effectively puts an end to speculation that followed Wahl’s death, including posts on Twitter and other social media platforms that his sudden death was linked to either the COVID-19 vaccine or malfeasance on the part of the Qatari government or others.
Wahl’s wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, a leading infectious disease physician who advised President Biden’s transition team on COVID-19, had previously rejected any link to the vaccine.
“I really do feel some relief in knowing what it was,” Gounder said in an interview with The New York Times published Wednesday morning.
Gounder went on to say the cold symptoms her husband complained about while covering the games were most likely unrelated to the aneurysm.
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