Last night I linked to preliminary autopsy reports out of Greece that said that Mexican striker Antonio de Nigris died as the result of a congenital heart ailment. Today, de Nigris' personal doctor, who is also a cardiologist, denied the claims. Dr. Mario Benavides said that de Nigris was completely healthy and had not registered any heart condition or related health problems. Dr. Benavides' claims not only contradict the preliminary Greek medical report, they also contract the claims by the Turkish club Ankaraspor that de Nigris did in fact have a heart ailment.
I'm not a medical doctor, but I have some interests in bioengineering (math models of biological processes, mostly) and know enough to know that these kinds of genetic ailments are not very well understood and are very difficult to detect. (We probably understand the workings of outer space better than the workings of our own body!) The fact that de Nigris had a clean bill of health according to his doctor could mean that he didn't have a congenital condition, and it could be completely irrelevant. If it's the former, it increases the mystery; if it's the latter, then that's just scary. We just don't know at the moment.
The investigations into de Nigris' death have just begun and we'll just have to wait to see what the final report says eventually. In the meantime, the Mexican League will borrow the recent practice of the English Premier League of a minute's applause to honor Antonio de Nigris' memory.
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