Unexplained Sudden Death of Healthy 21-Year-Old: Coroner Records Cardiomyopathy and Myocarditis

Healthy young man collapses and dies while celebrating Guy Fawkes with friends

A 21-year-old man died suddenly while out celebrating with friends.  He collapsed and could not be resuscitated.  He was previously healthy with no medical conditions or medications.  There were no drugs or alcohol involved.

Relevant post mortem findings included significant heart disease in the form of extensive muscle scarring (fibrosis), heart enlargement (cardiac hypertrophy) and sparse areas of myocarditis (heart muscle inflammation and cell death).

It was noted that there were “none of the underlying risk factors cardiomyopathies are commonly associated with” such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, viral infections, certain medications, pregnancy, or chronic excessive alcohol use.  Some cardiomyopathies can also be inherited.

The pathologist’s opinion was that the post-mortem examination findings did not fit into any particular category of cardiomyopathy (e.g. hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy and restrictive cardiomyopathy) and therefore it was best classified as ‘not otherwise specified’.

A second-opinion forensic pathologist suggested that the features are “on a spectrum of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy and dilated cardiomyopathy with multi-focal myocarditis.” A referral to the Cardiac Inherited Disease Group was made but there was no outcome in the coroner’s report.

Official cause of death: “cardiomyopathy, not otherwise specified with multi-focal myocarditis, cardiac hypertrophy, and fibrosis”.

According to Coroner Cheeseman this is another ‘natural causes’ death with ‘no suspicious circumstances’. We say again, it is not natural for a young man fall down dead, and the devastating lifelong impacts on his loved ones require the most painstaking coronial investigation, not what can look like part of an organised carpet sweeping exercise.

As with other cases we have commented on there was no mention of the covid vaccination status of this young man by the coroner, even though the coroner had noted that ‘certain medications’ can cause cardiomyopathies. By now, most ordinary New Zealanders know which medication causes myocarditis. If he has received one or more covid vaccinations, that is what has caused his myocarditis and scarring of the heart muscle.

If vaccinated, his death should have been (should still be) reported to CARM and an ACC claim made by his family.

We repeat the words of cardiologist Dr Peter McCullough.

“When we see a young person now, who’s previously healthy, no antecedent illness and they suddenly die, and the two patterns are dying in sleep, typically from 3 am to 6 am or dying during sports, and by the way in both of those time periods there is a rise in epinephrine, norepinephrine (adrenaline and noradrenaline) which is probably an internal trigger for this, and there’s no suicide, there’s no drug overdose, there’s no motor vehicle accident, it is the covid 19 vaccine and subclinical myocarditis until the parents come out or the family comes out and tell us otherwise.  And the family they can clear this up.  If they come out and say listen, they didn’t take the vaccine, then OK we’ll lay down our concern. But let’s be conservative and assume right now that these are fatal vaccine-induced myocarditis cases.”