Posted on 06/29/2009 12:32:22 PM PDT by COUNTrecount
TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Billy Mays, well known for pitching a variety of products in U.S. television commercials, had heart disease but did not appear to have suffered head trauma in a rough airplane landing prior to dying in his sleep on Sunday, a medical examiner in Florida said on Monday.
The bearded, black-haired Mays, 50, who gained fame as an enthusiastic TV "pitchman" advertising an array of commercial products, was found dead by his wife at their home in Tampa, Florida.
On Saturday, Mays was among the passengers aboard a U.S. Airways flight from Philadelphia that landed roughly at Tampa International Airport after apparently blowing a tire.
Mays told local TV shortly afterward that objects had dropped from the ceiling of the plane upon impact and he had received a blow on the head, although he said at the time he felt fine.
In a preliminary statement on Monday after an initial autopsy, Hillsborough County medical examiner Vernard Adams said his examination found that Mays had "hypertensive heart disease," which refers to heart disease caused by high blood pressure, but "there was no evidence of any head trauma."
Adams said this heart ailment "was certainly capable of causing the sudden death." He said Mays had died in his sleep.
"It's not unusual for persons with heart disease to die this young," Adams said, adding that a formal report on the cause of death would be issued only after the results of toxicology tests were considered.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
And US Air breathes a sigh of relief...
Judging from the interview I saw with him after the hard landing, it didn’t sound like it was enough to cause intracranial bleeding. I’m not surprised he had high blood pressure. He was an intense guy.
I’m sure he was a great guy, but his commercials were so obnoxious I raced for the remote at the first sight of him.
I do want to say that the press conference was the best, most informative one that I have ever listened to...no congratulating the other doctors and paramedics and ambulance drivers like they do with the police...just the facts, simple, straightforward, and concise....I really liked the concise part...
of course the ditzy reporters had to ask questions that had already been stated in the press conference....that that's journalism for you...
he didn’t even LOOK like he thought he was believable, but if you looked close you could see him trying real hard to keep a straight face while knowing full well that the only reason he was making commercials was because he was blessed with one of the most irritating voices on the planet!
Godspeed, Billy, they’ll never find a worthy replacement for you!
They do that so that they can tell their bosses they asked those questions.
That dodge is the journalistic equivalent of punching the clock.
Yeah, US Air does. Can’t blame them, either.
Billy’s son needs to take care of himself in light of this.
I grabbed the remote and started pushing buttons too!
I could never figure out what kind of person wants to buy something from a guy that YELLS at them!
It was very irritating to me also, I had to change the channel whenever he came on hawking his wares.
When I found out he actually had a fan club, I started wondering at the mentality of these impulsive consumers.
On Friday when Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died on the same day, lots of posts were saying, “These things happen in threes! Who’s next?”
Who’da thunk it would by another 50-year-old? And not a druggie or high-living celebutard, either, but a happily married father. He was loud, but always with such a sweet and friendly expression.
RIP, Billy.
Magnesium folks, you gotta get magnesium ...
For some reason, it's better that it was just natural (his time, so to speak) than some dumb random accident.
I hear folks talk about getting enough potassium, but have never heard anybody mention magnesium. What does it do?
He had a fan club? It could have only been made up of really lonely people without ears.
LOL, he’d probably laugh as hard at your joke as I am now. Good one.
If I call right now, will they double the order and throw in the SHAM WOW guy, too?
Yeah, I know, I know, but I just had to get it out. My jest refers only to the character he played on TV, not the man himself, OK? For the man and his family, my condolences.
Are you kidding, google “magnesium” and “heart” in google, it’s key to your heart and health ...
EXERCISE folks, you gotta get EXERCISE...... ...
ROFL!
Oxy-Clean works great!!!
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