The cause of death of Grant Wall (48), an American football journalist who collapsed and died in the stadium’s press box while covering the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, has been confirmed to be a ruptured aortic aneurysm.
Reporter Wall’s wife, Celine Goulder, a physician, told the CBS morning news program “This Morning” that her husband died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm in the ascending aorta.
“It’s possible that (the aortic aneurysm) progressed slowly over several years without any conscious symptoms,” Dr. Goulder said, adding that the ultimate cause is unknown.
He said the chest pressure experienced by reporter Wall shortly before his death could have been a prognostic symptom.
Journalist Wall died suddenly on the 10th in the press box of the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, where Argentina and the Netherlands played in the quarter-finals.
Fellow reporters sitting nearby at the time of the crash said, “Since overtime began, Reporter Wall appeared to be in excruciating pain.”
Paramedics rushed to the scene and attempted CPR, and soon moved to a nearby hospital, but he was not revived.
According to Fox News, reporter Wall said on his social media on the 5th: “I haven’t slept well for 3 weeks due to stress and overwork.” I feel the pressure and discomfort from my superiors,” she said.
“I got tested for Corona 19, but the result was negative. Today I went to the media center infirmary and they told me it could be bronchitis, and they gave me antibiotics and syrup. After eating, I feel very better, but I still feel bad.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an aortic aneurysm is a balloon-like swelling of the aorta, the largest artery that supplies blood from the heart to the rest of the body.
When the force of the heart to pump blood is strong, the aortic intima is torn and separated from the adventitia, and blood collects between the two layers.
The CDC reports that there were 10,000 deaths caused by aortic aneurysms or aortic dissections in 2019 alone, 59 percent of which were due to injuries.
