NASCAR driver Kyle Busch’s cause of death was severe pneumonia & sepsis

If you or someone you love follows NASCAR, you’ve probably been following the weirdness around Kyle Busch and his passing last week. Busch, 41, was a legendary NASCAR driver, well-liked and well-sponsored. He passed away last Thursday. While his family said he had been sick recently, he was out and about and training up to one day before his death. Conspiracies began popping up quickly about what was ailing Busch and what was really going on. The Busch family either asked for an autopsy or some kind of postmortem investigation, and by Saturday, the family released the information about how a 41-year-old man in good health could collapse on Wednesday and die on Thursday. He died from severe pneumonia and sepsis.

NASCAR driver Kyle Busch died from severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis, according to a statement provided by the Busch family.

Dakota Hunter, vice president of Kyle Busch Companies, said in a news release that the family received the medical evaluation Saturday.

“The medical evaluation provided to the Busch Family concluded that severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming associated complications,” the Busch family statement read. “The Family asks for continued understanding and privacy during this difficult time.”

Busch, a two-time NASCAR champion, died at 41 on Thursday, a day after passing out in a Chevrolet simulator. His family said earlier that he had been hospitalized with a “severe illness” days before he was to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch was testing in the racing simulator in Concord, North Carolina, on Wednesday when he became unresponsive and was transported to a hospital in Charlotte, several people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. Busch experienced shortness of breath, felt he was overheating and was coughing up blood the day before his death, according to a 911 call obtained Friday by ABC.

During the emergency call placed late Wednesday afternoon, an unidentified caller calmly told the dispatch: “I’ve got an individual that’s [got] shortness of breath, very hot, thinks he’s going to pass out and is producing a little bit of blood, coughing up some blood.”

The caller said Busch was lying on the bathroom floor inside the complex and told dispatch “he is awake,” according to audio provided by the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office. The man gave directions on where emergency responders should go and asked that they turn off any sirens upon arrival.

Sepsis is considered a life-threatening medical emergency that occurs when the body has an extreme, overactive response to an infection, causing the immune system to damage its own tissues and organs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Typically the immune system releases chemicals to fight off pathogens such as bacteria, viruses or fungi, but with sepsis the response goes into overdrive. The results can cause widespread inflammation, form microscopic blood clots and make blood vessels leak.

Busch was thought to have had a sinus cold while racing at Watkins Glen on May 10 and radioed his team saying he needed a “shot” from a doctor after the race. However, he bounced back to win the Trucks Series race at Dover last weekend and finished 17th in the All-Star Race on Sunday.

[From ESPN]

This is really horrible, and a reminder that pneumonia is no joke. It sounds like as soon as he started coughing up blood, he was immediately hospitalized. But what were the signs before then? How much of this was a guy who just thought he was toughing out a cold or sinus infection? I imagine the shot was either vitamins or some kind of steroid? Anyway, his poor family. He had a wife and two kids, a boy and a girl. Devastating.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Instagram.