Sad Unexplained Death

February 21, 2003 4:28 PM

This is a friend of a friend. Jon and Heidi Connal traveled around the world from June 2001 to Oct 2002. They included all of their experiences in a journal on their website. Jon Andrew Connal ran a marathon almost every month. Then he got sick and started throwing up blood for no apparent reason. The doctor thought it might be some sort of pneumonia. He was a very healthy man but for no apparent reason he suddenly died 3 days later. It's a sad story about wonderful people.
posted by suprfli (3 comments total)

I'm sorry for your loss. I had to stop and think. I'm also a competitive athlete; and just one month younger than Jon. We become in tune with our bodies to such a degree - and confident in their strength - that an inexplicable tragedy like this is numbing. His wife is a stronger person than I, were our roles reversed.
posted by rotifer at 4:42 PM on February 21, 2003

I've been to this website before, and was thinking about it recently when a friend of mine and his wife departed not a month ago on a similar adventure, with similar plans for a weblog of the events.

This letter from Heidi just makes me want to cry.

And, not that an explanation as to what happened would in any way lessen the pain, it's stunning nonetheless that an otherwise healthy man could be taken down so swiftly with no understanding as to why or how. Isn't this 2003?

My condolences to Hiedi, and to all those that knew Jon.
posted by Swifty at 6:59 AM on February 22, 2003

So touching. Heidi is so strong. Thanks for the post. I'll be following the story in hope of some explanation.
posted by sparky at 9:13 AM on February 24, 2003