I mentioned Bruce Lee in my last post.
My son (knowing that I am a huge Bruce Lee admirer) bought me the book “Bruce Lee: A Life” by Matthew Polly some time ago.
It’s a big book and I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t read it yet.
I did however manage to read an article by Matthew on history.com where he puts forward a new theory on the cause of Bruce’s death.
In relation to the official cause of death, the article states that “The autopsy had revealed the medical reason—cerebral edema (swelling of the brain)—but the coroner had no idea what had caused it”.
I the absence of an obvious cause, the government accepted a theory that the cause was a “severe allergic reaction to aspirin, or anaphylactic shock”.
Matthew Polly rejects this theory saying that “Lee was a hardcore martial artist who had taken aspirin most of his adult life without any side effects”.
He puts forward an alternative theory that Bruce died from heat stroke and associated this with the fact that “Several months before his death, Lee had an operation to remove the sweat glands from his armpits”.
It’s amazing that new theories about Bruce’s death are emerging 47 years after his death. But it’s a testament to the man (the legend) that people want to know.
Here’s an iconic picture of Bruce from Way of the Dragon:
