Asthma Attack Kills Pulitzer Winner

Foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid has died in Syria. Mr. Shadid had won two Pulitzer Prizes for his coverage of the war in Iraq. His assignments had taken him into danger many times. Once he was sh...
Asthma Attack Kills Pulitzer Winner
Written by Mike Tuttle

Foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid has died in Syria.

Mr. Shadid had won two Pulitzer Prizes for his coverage of the war in Iraq. His assignments had taken him into danger many times. Once he was shot in the shoulder. He went into Syria on a motorcycle across rugged terrain.

In 2011, Shadid and three colleagues were reported missing in Eastern Lybia, reporting on the uprisings against Ghaddafi. Two days later, Lybia agreed to free him and his colleagues.

But, in the end, it was not these sorts of dangers that killed Shadid. It was an asthma attack. Shadid apparently was allergic to the horses that some guides in Syria used. He had endured one asthma attack already and the second bad one caused his death.

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America lists some startling facts about the disease:

Every day in America:

  • 40,000 people miss school or work due to asthma every day.
  • 30,000 people have an asthma attack every day.
  • 5,000 people visit the emergency room due to asthma every day.
  • 1,000 people are admitted to the hospital due to asthma every day.
  • 11 people die from asthma every day.
  • There are more than 4,000 deaths due to asthma each year.
  • Asthma is indicated as “contributing factor” for nearly 7,000 other deaths each year.
  • Since 1980 asthma death rates overall have increased more than 50% among all genders, age groups and ethnic groups. The death rate for children under 19 years old has increased by nearly 80% percent since 1980.
  • Shadid left behind a wife and two children.

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