Was Famous Pitchman Billy May’s Death Linked to Brain Injury?

Doctors in Florida will be looking at whether famous pitchman Bill Mays recent passing was caused by Mild Traumatic Brain Injury also known as MTBI. On June 27, 2009, Mays was aboard US Airways Flight 1241 when the front tire of the aircraft blew out during a landing at Tampa International Airport. Mays reported to a TV crew after the landing that he was hit on the head by falling debris (suit case) from an overhead compartment.

Everyone should be aware that an injury to the head can cause a type of bleeding that may cause serious injury, and in some cases, even death. Sometimes a person loses consciousness for a short time, and or may become “dazed and confused” following the head injury. However, there is a time that passes known to doctors as the “lucid interval” and the injured person appears to be fine.

Doctors call this period of the lucid interval as the time that passes after a traumatic brain injury; remember, a traumatic brain injury can be rather mild or severe; after this interval period the person with the head injury starts to deteriorate rapidly. This period of lucidness can last minutes or even hours. As blood slowly or rapidly collects in the brain/head region due to the injury to the brain, it slowly gives way to over powering the body to compensate. This blood collection causes a rise in intracranial blood pressure, which can and does damage brain tissue.

However, for now, Dr. Vernard Adams, after performing an initial autopsy on Mays’ body on June 29, 2009, has confirmed that Mays suffered from hypertensive heart disease, and that a heart attack was the likely cause of his death. To this end, this cannot be conclusive until toxicology tests and tissue test are completed.

It is vitally important to be ever diligent in being checked out immediately by a health care professional if you are someone you know has suffered a head injury no matter how minute.