My brother called me on Monday night and told me his son had died. He was a pipeliner and worked hard. Sometimes 12 hours a day seven days a week. The cause of death was not obvious and an autopsy was performed. Everything looked fine except the coroner said he had a greatly enlarged heart. No final cause of death yet but it looks like congestive heart failure. He was 26 years old. He was the picture of health. Lean and muscular. He had asthma and was frequently short of breath. I believe his doctor missed the signs of congestive heart failure thinking his shortness of breath was due to asthma and not an enlarged heart. The warning is this, I told the coroner that I assumed heart attacks were pretty rare in young men. The coroner said that was untrue and that she had seen several cases this year. The cause of these heart attacks are unknown but it has not been drug related or due to coronary heart disease. Don't think that shortness of breath is due to age or asthma. It could be coronary. Have it checked out. Please remember our family, and especially his mother and father, in your prayers.
