Cause of Death For Journalist Grant Wahl Revealed

Grant Wahl’s cause of death was an undetected aortic aneurysm, his wife revealed on the American soccer writer’s blog Wednesday morning, reports The Boston Globe..

Wahl died last week while covering the World Cup in Qatar. His body was returned to the US on Monday, and an autopsy was performed by the New York City medical examiner’s office.

“Grant died from the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium,” wrote his wife, Céline Gounder, who is an infectious diseases doctor. ”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 had complained of respiratory problems earlier in the week and had been treated for a possible case of bronchitis, fell back in his seat in a section of Lusail Stadium reserved for journalists during extra time of the game between Argentina and the Netherlands, and reporters adjacent to him called for assistance.

Emergency services workers responded very quickly, treated him for 20 or 30 minutes on site and then took him out on a stretcher. The World Cup organizing committee said he was taken to Doha’s Hamad General Hospital.