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Text File | 1994-03-14 | 7KB | 148 lines

                   HOW DID BRUCE LEE DIE????????
                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first question that is put to you when you have admitted that you
are a Bruce Lee appreciator is: "How did Bruce Lee Die??

Many hundreds of stories have been told about the cause of death, many
fictitious, some near-truths as close as can be related. Presented
here is one medical concept of what possibly could have happened. This
is not to say that what you are about to read is the exact truth, but
when you are asked the question again, at least you will be able to
give a fair answer with a truthful medical reply.

On May 10th 1973, Bruce was working at the Golden Harvest Studios
dubbing the final print of "Enter the Dragon." It was a hot, humid
day; Bruce was feeling exhausted and weary. Nobody took much notice of
this as he expended so much energy in action film fight scenes. He went
into a nearby rest-room to recuperate (the room was empty and
considerably cooler) and he suddenly collapsed but did not lose
conciousness. He managed to get back on his feet and walked back into
the dubbing room where he immediately collapsed again, and this time he
lost consciousness. He vomited and had a convulsion attack - there was
much confusion. Why should he collapse? He was extremely fit person, of
both mind and body. He was rushed to hospital, his breathing very
laboured, and he was totally unresponsive. The Neurosurgeons were
contacted and tests showed that there was something wrong with his
brain.

Bruce was prescribed the drug dilantin (Phenytoin Sodium) which is an
anti-convulsant drug known to quieten down the brain's activity. N.B.
There were no traces of this drug found in his body after his death -
had he forgotten to take it?

There was no hereditary cause of epilepsy in his family and so this
sudden collapse was a mystery.... but had this been a warning of what
was to come?

The drug mannitol was administered (a drug which reduces swelling of
the brain) and surgery was planned if he did not respond to this
treatment. After a couple of hours, however, he began to respond and
regained consciousness - his speech was slurred at first and
co-ordination of his limbs was sluggish, and he improved and seemed
to recovered.

Blood-tests showed that there was a possible malfunction of his
kidneys: had this been a contributory factor?

Overwork and exhaustion were ruled out as the cause and doctors
wanted to perform further tests to determine the reason for his
sudden collapse as they were totally baffled. A cerebal angiogram
was performed (this is a radio opaque dye which is injected into the
cartoid artery outlining the cerebal arteries, which shows on the
x-ray films) as this dye can reveal any abnormalities, but no
abnormalities were found at all.

The doctors asked Bruce if he was taking any drugs and he admitted
that he took cannabis leaf. Further tests involved a brain scan,
brain flow study and an electro-encephalogram, (which outlines the
electrical activity of the brain). All these tests proved
inconclusive as no abnormalities at all were detected in his brain
functions.

Bruce, they decided eventually, had suffered cerebral oedema,
which is an acute swelling of the brain due to accumulation of
cerebro-spinal fluid leaking out into the brain tissue. But what
as caused this?? There was nothing else wrong with his bodily
functions; he was in perfect health, he had the body of an eighteen
year-old and had suffered from Grand Mal seizure of idiopathic
origin (meaning, yet again, that there was no known cause!)

On July 20th 1973 - the most fateful day of all - Bruce had been
working on a script and story for GAME OF DEATH (how apt!), actress
Betty-Ting Pei was to have a leading role in it. So it was 4:00pm
that afternoon Bruce drove to her flat to fill her in on the details
of the film.

Later that same afternoon, Bruce complained of a headache and Betty
gave him a tablet called Equagesic (an aspirin-based pain killer),
and around 7:30m that night Bruce stated that he felt unwell and
went to lie down in one of the bedrooms. He was still asleep at
9:30pm and looked peaceful, his breathing was normal. But when
attempts were made to rouse him, he would not wake up. A doctor was
called and he spent quite some time trying to revive him. Eventually
Bruce was rushed into the Queen Elizabeth hospital where recusitation
attempts still proved unsuccessful. Bruce Lee was dead!!


Possible causes of his death are:-

A)    Traces of cannabis and marijuana were found in his stomach,
and it was much rumoured that he had been a drug-addict in order to
boost his extraordinary feats. All medical evidence at the coroner's
enquiry disclosed that there was absolutely no possibility of cannabis
being responsible for his death, or even that it was a contributory
factor. Cannabis is a soft drug and no reported death has occured
from its usage.

B)    The other foreign substance found in bruce's organs was
Equagesic (the painkilling tablet that Betty had given him). Had Bruce
been allergic to it?? This theory was abandoned, but he may have
developed a hypersensitivity reaction to that particular drug, and so
this theory seems a lot more feasible than the previous one relating
to cannabis.

C)    Bruce's skull was examined, there were no signs of injury
but his brain had swollen like a sponge to twice its normal size. It
weighed an incredible 1,575 grammes against the normal weight of
1,400 grammes. This swelling was not caused by haemorrhage as none
of the cerebral vessels were blocked or broken. This was the same
condition that had caused Bruce to collapse in May, just two months
previous, and this swelling must have occured very rapidly in this
case. The question is this, had the swelling been taking place BEFORE
he'd taken the Equagestic tablets? He was already complaining of a
severe headache. Or had he been hypersensitive to the tablet, which had
caused his brain to swell (Cerebral Oedema).

Hypersensitivity cases pertaining to the drug Equagestic have been
rare, but this seems to be the only feasible explanation as to the
cause of his sudden death. This theory was accepted by the jury and
the verdict of misadventure was recorded.

The newspapers, along with various gossip-mongers, gave many reasons,
e.g. drug-addiction, over-work, exhaustion, stress and even murder!!
All these theories were ruled out and laid to rest.

The whole world was shocked to hear about Bruce Lee's death and there
was a lot of disbelief. How could such a fit man die so young? Had
there been a connection between his death and his earlier collapse
in May?

Had he taken Equagesic - or a similar compound - and reacted to it
back in May, though less severely, and managed to recover?

Had the doctor not tried to revive him without specialist equipment
in Betty's flat, would he have been saved?

Perhaps we will never know, the fact is Bruce Lee is dead.

This is a hard fact for all Bruce Lee appreciators to take in, but
of this we can be certain - his spirit will live on in our hearts
forever and that will never die!!!



COSMIC