What kind of heart defect killed Joe Strummer?
April 22, 2015 6:40 AM Subscribe
Clash-frontman Joe Strummer died on December 22, 2002 of a cardiac arrest.
The Coroner (Michael Rose) issued a report saying he died of an undiagnosed congenital heart condition.
I'd like to know which condition specifically.
The closest I could find was quote from his wife in Rolling Stone:
According to Trisha Simonon, the wife of Clash bassist Paul Simonon, the cause of death was a defective artery near his heart. "The coroner says it's something he would have been born with," she told Rolling Stone. "This could have happened at any point in his life. He walked his dog, sat on his sofa and that was that.
However, I remain puzzled....
The closest I could find was quote from his wife in Rolling Stone:
According to Trisha Simonon, the wife of Clash bassist Paul Simonon, the cause of death was a defective artery near his heart. "The coroner says it's something he would have been born with," she told Rolling Stone. "This could have happened at any point in his life. He walked his dog, sat on his sofa and that was that.
However, I remain puzzled....
Best answer: As I understand it, Joe Strummer died from an aortic dissection, the same thing that killed John Ritter. A defect in an artery near the heart that can easily go undetected until the moment the artery tears open, filling the sac around the heart with blood, preventing it from beating, and causing death almost instantaneously.
I can't currently find any better description of the coroner's findings than the article you quoted, though.
posted by Devoidoid at 7:02 AM on April 22, 2015
I can't currently find any better description of the coroner's findings than the article you quoted, though.
posted by Devoidoid at 7:02 AM on April 22, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks!
I'm not actually sure "intra-mural coronary artery" is really an actual disease... all coronary arteries go intramurally, but I sense that is the closest we'll get.
posted by cacofonie at 7:14 AM on April 24, 2015
I'm not actually sure "intra-mural coronary artery" is really an actual disease... all coronary arteries go intramurally, but I sense that is the closest we'll get.
posted by cacofonie at 7:14 AM on April 24, 2015
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"His death certificate reveals he was suffering from an 'intra-mural coronary artery' - where one of the heart's main blood vessels grows inside the muscle wall. The condition is so rare there have only been 50 recorded cases during the last 40 years."
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:01 AM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]