Did he even realize he had pneumonia?
There are still plenty of questions surrounding the sudden and shocking death of 41-year-old NASCAR driver Kyle Busch last week.
Busch passed away on Thursday, just hours after it was announced that he was suffering from a “severe illness” and would miss this past weekend’s Coca-Cola 600. And immediately, many began to speculate that his death was related to an illness that he was suffering during a race at Watkins Glen two weeks ago.
During the race, Busch could be heard on the radio asking for a doctor to meet him after the race, saying that he needed a shot when he got back to his motorhome. At the time, announcers said that Busch had been dealing with a sinus infection.
The following weekend at Dover Motor Speedway, Busch confirmed that he was still dealing with the illness, which he described as a “severe cough.” But Busch was still able to compete at Dover, even scoring what would turn out to be his final victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday, just six days before his death.
Things took a turn for the worse on Wednesday, when the driver reportedly collapsed during simulator testing at the GM Technical Center in Charlotte. During a 911 call, it was reported that Busch was “awake and alert” but was on the bathroom floor experiencing “shortness of breath, very hot, thinks he’s going to pass out, and is producing a little bit of blood, coughing up some blood.”
On Saturday, Busch’s family released a statement revealing that his death was caused by severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis. And now, the death certificate is providing more insight into the tragic chain of events that led up to the death of the NASCAR legend.
According to US Weekly, the medical examiner determined that Busch likely had pneumonia for “days to weeks” before his death, all while he kept racing and going about his business. The death certificate says that the pneumonia then progressed to sepsis, which he likely only had for a day before his death.
The sepsis caused “disseminated intravascular coagulation,” or small blood clots that spread throughout his body and blocked flow to his organs, ultimately leading to hemorrhagic shock due to severe internal bleeding.
After his cause of death was announced, sports medicine doctor Jesse Morse took to social media to argue that the driver should have been hospitalized following the Watkins Glen race:
“This was a totally preventable situation. Hindsight is 2020, but ideally when he was calling for help and a “shot” from his doctor two weeks ago. The proper protocol would’ve been to have him admitted to the hospital and get IV antibiotics with proper monitoring.
Based on what we have heard, this was not the case, and his medical team allowed him to maintain his strenuous activities despite this ongoing infection that eventually evolved into pneumonia.”
Morse says it was “extraordinary” that Busch was able to compete – and win – while dealing with such a severe illness, but says that because he was able to power through it he didn’t get the medical treatment he needed:
“The fact that he won a race less then a week before he passed away, meaning that he was still actively dealing with this infection, is nothing short of extraordinary. It shows you how good of shape he was in and also the power of the mind.
Unfortunately, his powerful mind ended up being a double-edged sword, preventing him from getting the proper care he deserved, which unfortunately led to his shocking passing.”
Of course hindsight’s 20/20, so who knows how it would have played out had Busch been hospitalized following Watkins Glen. It’s not even clear that Busch – or his medical team – even realized that he had pneumonia, no doubt due in part to his physical fitness as an athlete.
Just a tragic situation.
