Ramon Dekkers: RIP

[sanjuro_ronin]

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2013/2/27/4036510/muay-thai-champion-ramon-dekkers-passes-away-at-age-43

Some sad news hit the Muay Thai and professional Kickboxing world today when news came out that former champion Ramon Dekkers passed suddenly. Liver Kick reported the news:

Reports are coming out of his home town of Breda today that Dekkers was riding his bike when he collapsed in a tunnel after feeling light-headed. A few bystanders attempted to assist him before emergency services arrived and attempted to revive him to no avail.

Dekkers is a former 8-time world champion and one of the first Dutch Kickboxers to really make an impact in Thailand. He was instrumental in helping the sport of Kickboxing to evolve to what it is today and will always be remembered for his accomplishments in and out of the ring.

Dekkers was a coach for both Marloes Coenen and Alistair Overeem who both mourn his loss on Twitter

His wikipage:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramon_Dekkers

[GeneChing]

He was a legend. And only 43? Not what one likes to hear on their 49th (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65427). :(

I read another report that said it might have been a heart attack. I'll be curious to hear what the cause was.

[sanjuro_ronin]

I have know 2 people that were in great shape that died from heart attacks.
One was an avid jogger and died in his early 30's while brushing his teeth.
The other a cyclist that died on his couch reading a book, He was late 30's.
Freaky **** dude.

[SoCo KungFu]

First off, a distinction needs to be made here. The blogs are calling it a heart attack. But most athletes that die of this type of thing do so because of cardiac arrest. They are not the same thing.

A heart attack is a vascular blockage. Cardiac arrest is an arrhythmia, a problem with the electrical conductance in the heart. A lot of these are genetic. But it could be something as simple as electrolyte imbalance.

Its freaky, but that's only because we perceive healthy individuals as above these illnesses. But that is due to a misunderstanding of what cardiac arrest actually is.

[JamesC]

Anyone know the cause?

[David Jamieson]

Heart failure seems to be the cause.