Page Six<\/a>.<\/p>\nArteriosclerosis occurs when the blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients from the heart to the rest of the body \u2014 the arteries \u2014 become thick and stiff, hardening over time.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, acute pneumonia is a sudden-onset infection that causes inflammation in the lungs, with fluid or pus filling the air sacs.<\/p>\n
The mechanism of Brendon\u2019s death, which was determined to be natural, was 90 per cent blockage of his right coronary artery.<\/p>\n
\u201cAutopsy demonstrated an adult male with a markedly enlarged heart, severe stenosis of the right coronary artery, moderate stenosis of the left anterior descending and left circumflex arteries, acute pneumonia and inflammation of the small bowel,\u201d Putnam County Coroner Todd Zeiner explained his findings. \u201cThe small bowel inflammation is most likely secondary to ischaemic changes related to the cardiogenic shock.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brendon\u2019s longtime manager and friend, Theresa Fortier, was the person who found him \u201cin a sleeping position on the couch\u201d and called emergency services just before 8.30am local time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no resuscitation attempt made due to obvious signs of death,\u201d Zeiner wrote. \u201cI presumed time of death was around 6am due to body temp[erature] and rigour [mortis]\/livor [mortis] signs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rigor mortis is the stiffening of the muscles caused by chemical changes that occur after death. Meanwhile, livor mortis is the gravitational pooling of blood that causes dark purple or reddish discolouration of a deceased person\u2019s body parts.<\/p>\n
Zeiner added, \u201cHe was markedly coughing and had a \u2018raspy\u2019 voice. Theresa stated the decedent had been having a persistent cough and had been self-medicating with over-the-counter medications. He had been complaining about chest pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fortier reportedly recommended that Brendon go to the hospital to have his chest pain checked out, but he declined.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a longtime smoker and was apprehensive about going due to his recent back surgery,\u201d Zeiner wrote.<\/p>\n
He observed \u201cno obvious signs of foul play\u201d and \u201cno further evidence at the scene,\u201d noting that \u201cnothing seemed out of place or disturbed\u201d in the home, which Brendon appeared to have been \u201crenovating.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Brendon had made multiple videos from the back deck of the home for his fans. These videos provided a basis for his declining health,\u201d Zeiner opined.<\/p>\n
Brendon\u2019s family previously announced that he had \u201cpassed in his sleep of natural causes\u201d at the age of 54, noting that \u201cmost people know Nicky for his work as an actor and for the characters he brought to life over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
They continued, \u201cIn recent years, Nicky [had] found his passion in painting and art. Nicky loved to share his enthusiastic talent with his family, friends and fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brendon was \u201cpassionate, sensitive and endlessly driven to create,\u201d his family insisted. \u201cThose who truly knew him understood that his art was one of the purest reflections of who he was.\u201d<\/p>\n
They went on, \u201cWhile it\u2019s no secret that Nicholas had struggles in the past, he was on medications and treatment to manage his diagnosis, and he was optimistic about the future at the time of his passing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family concluded by asking for \u201cprivacy\u201d to \u201cgrieve his loss and celebrate the life of a man who lived with intensity, imagination and heart.\u201d They also thanked those who have \u201cshown love and support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zeiner previously told Page Six that Brendon \u201cresided alone and was discovered by a longtime friend who had been staying overnight to provide care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zeiner said the pal \u2014 whose identity was not disclosed at the time \u2014 found Brendon \u201cpositioned as if asleep,\u201d and he was pronounced dead by medical personnel with \u201cno signs of foul play \u2026 and nothing at the scene indicat[ing] the death was anything other than natural.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout his life, Brendon \u2014 who went to rehab several times for alcoholism and drug addiction \u2014 had various run-ins with the law, including in 2021 when he was arrested and charged with prescription fraud and refusal to identify himself to police.<\/p>\n
After pleading guilty to the felony, the misdemeanour charge was dismissed, and Brendon was sentenced to a year of probation.<\/p>\n
The Criminal Minds actor \u2014 who had also been accused of domestic violence and sexual misconduct \u2014 was facing unrelated legal challenges as well as health issues at the time of his death.<\/p>\n
He was diagnosed with cauda equina syndrome (CES) after a serious fall in 2021, which required multiple spinal surgeries and led to partial paralysis in his legs and genitalia.<\/p>\n
He later experienced two cardiac incidents, including a heart attack in 2022, that led to the discovery of a congenital heart defect.<\/p>\n
Brendon addressed his difficulties in a 2023 Instagram post, lamenting in part at the time, \u201cI\u2019ve had multiple doctor appointments to juggle, and dealing with health insurance and pre-approvals feels nearly as emotionally exhausting and painful as dealing with my actual injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many of Brendon\u2019s Buffy co-stars posted Instagram tributes after his passing, including Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played Buffy Summers in the popular drama series.<\/p>\n
The actress uploaded a throwback photo of the pair and quoted Brendon\u2019s character, Xander Harris, in the caption, writing, \u201c\u2018They\u2019ll never know how tough it is to be the one who isn\u2019t chosen. To live so near to the spotlight, and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realises, because nobody\u2019s watching me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
She added, \u201cI saw you Nicky. I know you are at peace, in that big rocking chair in the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n
This article originally appeared in Page Six<\/a> and was reproduced with permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nicholas Brendon\u2019s cause of death has been revealed. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer star \u2014 who died on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":651985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[315333,315315,315330,173485,315323,20269,131180,315332,315316,315313,33962,315319,103016,274775,39043,25774,17724,2105,43,23191,22657,1289,315318,273595,61522,315326,315317,315327,315311,315320,44,273852,315310,315312,315331,315324,315322,315328,315334,39031,315314,315321,315329,315325,41,39,42,40,274776],"class_list":["post-651984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-actor-nicholas","tag-acute-pneumonia","tag-adult-male","tag-autopsy-report","tag-bernie-zilio","tag-blood-vessels","tag-body-parts","tag-bowel-inflammation","tag-cardiac-incidents","tag-cardiogenic-shock","tag-chest-pain","tag-circumflex-arteries","tag-congenital-heart-defect","tag-david-boreanaz","tag-domestic-violence","tag-drug-addiction","tag-emergency-services","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-headlines","tag-health-insurance","tag-health-issues","tag-heart-attack","tag-livor-mortis","tag-longtime-friend","tag-longtime-manager","tag-longtime-smoker","tag-misdemeanour-charge","tag-multiple-doctor-appointments","tag-multiple-spinal-surgeries","tag-multiple-videos","tag-news","tag-nicholas-brendon","tag-obvious-signs","tag-partial-paralysis","tag-popular-drama-series","tag-prescription-fraud","tag-resuscitation-attempt","tag-right-coronary-artery","tag-rigor-mortis","tag-sarah-michelle-gellar","tag-scene-indicat","tag-sudden-onset-infection","tag-theresa-fortier","tag-todd-zeiner","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-xander-harris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}