Famous infomercial pitchman Billy Mays died mysteriously over the weekend after suffering a hit to the head during a minor accident on a US Air flight that blew a tire. Many people thought that Mays may have died from a brain injury similar to the sad accident that Natasha Richardson suffered earlier this year. Mays was found deceased in bed by his wife on Sunday morning after flying in the day before. Family members say he was coherent and alert that day.
The coroner has determined that Mays died of a pulmonary embolism, or a blockage in one of the main arteries of the heart. He had an enlarged heart, and no evidence of head injury was found.
Pitchman extraordinaire Billy Mays died from a pulmonary embolism, according to the coroner in Tampa, Fla., who announced preliminary autopsy results at a press conference Monday. Evidence of heart disease was also found.
According to Hillsborough County Medical Examiner Vernard Adams, Mays “had an enlarged heart, a thickening of the wall of the ventricle which takes blood to the heart.” Final results of the autopsy and cause of death will not be known for several weeks.
Mays, 50, the bearded man with the booming voice best known for his ubiquitous OxiClean ads died in his sleep in his Florida home over the weekend.
On Saturday, Mays was aboard a U.S. Airways flight that had a rough landing in Tampa. Mays told a TV crew that he bumped his head in the landing, fueling speculation that a possible injury could have lead to his untimely death. But the coroner says there was no evidence of head trauma. Internal and external injuries also did not exist.
“The news of Billy’s death came as a total shock to me,” Anthony Sullivan, his longtime friend and comrade on the Discovery Channel series Pitchmen told PEOPLE Sunday night. “I’m devastated.”
[From People]
I looked up pulmonary embolism on wikipedia, and it’s often caused by a deep vein thrombus or blood clot, traveling up to the heart. They’re always warning us about deep vein thrombosis while we’re flying. I wonder if Mays’ flight is related at all, or if I’m again trying to make connections where there are none. Mays was too young to pass from heart disease at 50 and that’s so sad. I’m going to make sure my husband takes an aspirin every day. These upsetting high profile cases help remind us to take care of ourselves and our loved ones because life can be so fragile.
I thought the same about Tim Russert. The flight may have aggravated the blood clot and caused his heart to enlarge. I’ve never known another man besides Steve Irwin who had so much enthusiasim and energy!
RIP Bill Mays!
I’m going out and buying Ka-Boom in tribute! I liked this guy.
CB – pulmonary embolisms (PEs) are most often caused by DVTs. It’s very unlikely his heart disease did much to cause his PE. Unless he had a heart arrhythmia (like a-fib) that can cause blood clots, but this is extremely unlikely. The way the blood travels in the body, it’s most likely the clot came from his legs. (Thus the headline is incorrect, it’s not really linked to heart disease.)
How sad though, so young, and he seemed like a nice guy.
Flying in an airplane is a major risk factor for pulmonary emboli. And it is not “a blockage on one of the main arteries of the heart” but rather a clot in the lung. His death is likely related to flying. Wasn’t it Al Gore who almost died from a PE after flying?
It’s not flying that causes PEs, it’s the long periods of time spent sitting without moving which exacerbates DVTs that travels to the lungs when the person begins moving again. Its extremely unfortunate, and DVTs are treatable if detected. I’m still really sad about his passing.
He’s pitching Oxyclean in H*eaven now.