Quick, someone call SG-1; a Goa'uld maybe on the lose
Posted on 12/10/2004 5:13:28 AM PST by NCjim
A man who either fell or jumped off the roof of his moving Mercedes-Benz in Scottsdale has been identified as an acclaimed chief financial officer for Phoenix whose struggles with a parasite might have caused his behavior Wednesday. Kevin Keogh, 55, died about 3 p.m. after he climbed onto the roof of the car he was driving east on Camelback Road with arms outstretched, similar to actor Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie “Titanic.”
Police haven't determined if the death was suicide or accidental, Scottsdale detective Sam Bailey said.
Keogh contracted the illness a couple of years ago while on vacation in Mexico and his wife, Karlene, told city officials "she believes the parasite impaired his frontal lobe inhibition, said Toni Maccarone, a Phoenix spokeswoman.
The specifics of Keogh's illness were unavailable, but he had been receiving treatment, city officials said.
Will Humble, bureau chief for disease control for the Arizona Department of Health Services, said that in general, tapeworms can invade brain tissue and cause brain damage. People can get tapeworms from eating undercooked pork in Mexico or pig feces on vegetables, he said.
"Usually, it's someone who’s from Mexico who comes up here as a migrant or someone who is binational that goes back and forth a lot. Very seldom is it a tourist who goes shopping and has a street taco or something," Humble said.
The worms have long incubation periods, ranging from weeks to 10 years, he said.
Autopsy results won't be available for a couple of months, Bailey said. Keogh, who had worked for Phoenix since 1976, made $164,000 a year and supervised 300 employees and part of the city’s $1 billion budget, Maccarone said.
“There is nothing we can do to replace Kevin,” City Manager Frank Fairbanks said at a news conference. “Kevin was more than a professional; he was a person.”
Bailey was not aware of any notes or documents Keogh left behind.
Witnesses told police the car was going about 40 mph when he got on the roof. Wednesday, police said the car was traveling 50 mph.
Police found his body on a sidewalk near 68th Street and Camelback Road, about 300 yards from where his car crashed into another, Bailey said.
Outside of work, he was known to be a patron of the arts and for his work with charities.
Keogh and his wife started the Arnold Keogh Health Foundation, which provided health insurance to mostly working-class women and their children.
“Kevin is very, very community minded," said Phoenix Vice Mayor Peggy Bilsten. “It’s sad for me for a number of reasons. They were a beautiful, beautiful couple, just a great example of what a good couple should be."
Bilsten is a member of the foundation board and a friend who had worked with Keogh for 10 years.
Keogh was reserved and noted for his sense of humor, co-workers said. He had no children.
"He made Phoenix a better place to live," Fairbanks said.
City and State magazine named Keogh one of the top 11 financial innovators in the country in 1993. The magazine selected Keogh the best finance director in the nation in 1987.
He held a bachelor's degree in philosophy and political science from Iona College in New York and a master’s degree in public administration from Syracuse University.
Jeff DeWitt, the assistant finance director, will serve as the interim chief financial officer, Maccarone said.
“He’s probably one of most intelligent, very professional, very, very good finance directors. I learned a great deal from him in 10 years," said DeWitt, who called Keogh his mentor and worked with him daily.
Kevin Randolph, 25, a counselor intern at Brophy College Preparatory School who lives in Phoenix, suffered minor injuries after Keogh’s car plowed into the back of his 2000 Plymouth Neon.
He recalled thinking, "I've been hit, but there’s nobody in the car.” Randolph was stopped at a red light waiting for a man to cross Camelback on a bicycle.
The man later told Randolph he was grateful Randolph's car blocked him from the runaway Mercedes.
There's a fine line between suicide and suicidal.
I hope you didn't think I was criticizing the decision to post the picture. I wasn't. My apologies if you thought otherwise.
I was just commenting on my reaction to the photo.
And you're right. I'll think twice about what I eat in foreign lands.
Perhaps stories like these are part of the vaunted "CortiSlim® Lifestyle"?
Nope--prolly not what happened. You first have to GET it, and that would have been when he was south of the border. The USDA would be very busy down there...
Pig feces on vegetables.!
Sounds like a plan for Baghdad,
wipe out the ragheads, save the virgins!
Would you like some more hummus?
Here's one for you.
He's dead Jim.
Thanks for the clarification. And, trichinosis is the muscle disease you can get from undercooked pork.
The reason that these things are rarely generated in the US is that there are now very few private farms that produce meat as a hobby. When I was in residency, we had a case of trichinosis in a family from undercooked pork, but the pig was raised by hobbyists who did not know the USDA rules and did not have vetinary checks.
My brother-in-law is a CPA and considers himself a "professional" above all other matters. He's also a liberal. So, the human thing is debatable. ;)
Uh suppodedly the guy ate the infected meat in Mexico.
I have doubts about this story, since millions of Americans visit Mexico and never get sick.
That said it is not impossible, just like when Americans died from American meat tainted with e coli, but what the hey, you can't let a knee jerk anti-Mexican, anti-Bush rant go.
"I'm trying to remember where those lines are from but my ?mind has hit a wall."
It's from Pink Floyd on "The Wall" cd...I can't remember the name of the song though.
His end was bizzare.
Wonder what will come out when the audit is performed?
LOL!!
I think you posted something similar during a real thread on a woman who had eaten a taco in Mexico. You're doing us a real public service.
LOL Dark Side of the Moon came way before The Wall...
Brain Damage by Pink Floyd
Struggled with parasite? Sounds like Kirk wrestling some alient beast.
| David Cronenberg: Scanners |
Glad you feel that way, rr. Whatever my fellow medical Freepers and I can add to these types of discussions seems to be appreciated and we're happy to do it.
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