Complications from epilepsy have been confirmed as the official cause of death for former football star Demaryius Thomas, who died in December aged just 33. This emerges from the autopsy report, parts of which are available to ESPN. Accordingly, the death of the 2016 Super Bowl champion was the result of seizures.
In July it became known that Thomas, like many other football professionals, suffered from the degenerative brain disease CTE. This was the result of an examination of the brain by doctors from Boston University. Former wide receiver Thomas was found dead in Roswell, Georgia, his death causing great consternation in the NFL.
Even then, the Boston neuropathologist Ann McKee had suspected a seizure as the probable cause of death. “CTE itself does not cause death,” McKee clarified at ABC News: “CTE changes behavior and personality.” According to family reports, Thomas was plagued by depression, anxiety attacks and panic attacks before his death.
CTE occurs as a result of frequent head trauma and can only be detected postmortem. The disease has already been detected in more than 300 former NFL players.
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