Texas husband froze to death in his recliner: report

Wondering if this fella had some other medical conditions possibly? I've slept in my truck numerous times throughout the years without heat during freezing temperatures...

I'm certainly younger but....

 

But don't run the generator while it is sitting in the middle of the living room.

2 Garland men, along with gas generator found dead inside home | wfaa.com

 

Elderly and those with ongoing essential medical needs did not fare well. The fatality numbers will be underestimated as many of these deaths are ascribed solely to the known underlying natural diseases.

The non-natural element (be it environmental exposure/hypothermia/hyerperthermia, or injury (hip fractures, etc)) should always take precedent in terms of manner of death certification. In other words, if somebody with a bunch of natural disease, frail, requiring medicines or other home therapy, limited expected lifespan finds themselves in 30 degree weather with no medications and their death is hastened further by those conditions, the manner of death would properly be classified as accident (as opposed to natural, suicide, or homicide). The cause of death should be listed as 'hypothermia' with the natural conditions listed as contributory conditions (or the other way around).

In practice unfortunately the autopsy findings associated with hyperthermia and hypothermia are minimal and nonspecific. With hypothermia specifically one may find acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis and/or gastric stress ulcers (so-called Wischnewski ulcers), or not. Ultimately, if somebody is just found dead in their residence, proper certification of cause/manner relies on evaluation of the scene, circumstances, history, how they were dressed (including paradoxical undressing), if there was evidence of trying to heat the residence, etc.

Of course, in this case the man's diagnosis was more certain because his wife survived and probably presented to the hospital with a temp in the 80s but still alive.

The total absence of water in these situations compounds the struggle for those who can't get out and about but need resources to maintain their medication regime or home dialysis, etc.

Home generators are not always possible either...think apartment buildings or those who just don't have the resources to invest in something that may never be used.

Sorry for the longwinded response...

 

My sister that lives down in Houston, said several people died because they went out to warm up in the car in the garage with the garage door closed. Brilliant!

 

And just a couple months ago this would have been clearly a covid death?

 

Covid associated with a polar vortex caused by global warming.

 

This is Texas. Seems to reason they have a bbq to stay warm?

 

I was talking to my little sister in Fort Worth the other night.

She was sitting in her hot tub drinking wine when she said she lost power and her phone was dying.

Haven’t heard from her in 5 days and lately been considering the thought she either froze to death , died of alcoholism or Covid.

I’m going with all 3. She was always a pain in my azzz as a kid when we were younger.