Grim Reminder of Seriousness of Disease
According to new reports, foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid died this week. According to Boston.com Shadid wasn’t felled by the bullet he took in the shoulder or the brutality he experienced at the hands of those holding him hostage; he died yesterday of a condition that affects some 25 million Americans: asthma.
News accounts reflect that, while traversing the Syria-Lebanon border on assignment for the New York Times, the former Globe reporter started wheezing after having an allergic reaction to horses in his caravan. Within moments, he collapsed and died after his heart stopped beating, according to Times photographer Tyler Hicks, who was accompanying Shadid.
“Asthma deaths are pretty uncommon, though not as uncommon as you might think,” said Brigham and Women’s Hospital asthma researcher Dr. Michael Wechsler. It causes about 4,000 deaths in the United States every year.
