WebCogito

Stop. Stay. Think.

Well, the hits just keep on coming.

First it was Ed McMahon. Then, three days later, Farrah Fawcett dies in the morning. That afternoon, Michael Jackson

dies.  A scant three more days, and Fox News is reporting that Billy Mays, who had just found great mainstream success with his new TV show “PitchMen”, was found dead in his home the morning of June 28, 2009.

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Mays rose to prominence as the pitchman for OxyClean, a cleaning product made by OxyClean International.  He parlayed that momentum into success with the Home Shopping Network, and eventually being the co-star of a documentary show based on his life in direct mail marketing.  He and his co-host Anthony “Sully” Sullivan had just made an appearance this past week on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.

[UPDATE]

Here’s more late-breaking updates from Foxnews.com:

Mays was found unresponsive by his wife inside his Tampa, Fla., home at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Tampa Police Department.

Police said there were no signs of forced entry to May’s residence and foul play is not suspected. Authorities said an autopsy should be complete by Monday afternoon.

Mays, 50, was on board a US Airways flight that blew out its front tires as it landed at a Tampa airport on Saturday, MyFOXTampa.com reported.

US Airways spokesman Jim Olson said that none of the 138 passengers and five crew members were injured in the incident, but several passengers reported having bumps and bruises, according to the station.

Authorities have not said whether Mays’ death was related to the incident.

[UPDATE #2]

Here’s some unnerving news from MyFoxTampaBay.com:  Billy Mays had travelled from Philadelphia to his home in Florida on US Airways flight 1241 from Philadelphia to Tampa:

Fresh from filming an Oxyclean commercial in Philadelphia, ‘Pitch Man’ Billy Mays was also thankful to be on the ground and back home in the Bay Area.

“All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head (emphasis mine), but I got a hard head,” said Mays.

If you recall, a scant three months ago, on March 19th, actress Natasha Richardson lost her life after sustaining a blow to the head, and initially feeling fine. From her Wikipedia entry:

On 16 March 2009, Richardson sustained a head injury High Tide video

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, when she fell while taking a skiing lesson at the Mont Tremblant Resort in Quebec, about an hour and a half from Montreal. The injury was followed by a lucid interval

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, when Richardson seemed to be fine and was able to talk and act appropriately. Paramedics and an ambulance which initially responded to the accident were told they were not needed and left. ^{Keeping Up with the Steins film [15]}

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Refusing medical attention, she returned to her hotel room and about three hours later was taken to a local hospital after complaining of a headache. She was transferred from there by ambulance to the Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal in critical condition and was admitted about seven hours after the fall.^{[ buy Home of the Brave}

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]

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The following day she was flown to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, where she died on 18 March.^{[1 The Lazarus Project ]} An autopsy conducted by the New York City Medical Examiners Office on 19 March revealed the cause of death was an “epidural hematoma due to blunt impact to the head”, and her death was ruled an accident.^[15]

Now, this is all pure speculation from my part at this point, but I think until all the details are out, speculating is all we can do.

[UPDATE #3]
Billy’s wife Deborah Mays just released the following statement:

Although Billy lived a public life, we don’t anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days. Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times.

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[UPDATE #4]

Discovery Channel spokeswoman Elizabeth Hillman released a statement

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Sunday extending sympathy to the Mays family.

”Everyone that knows him was aware of his larger-than-life personality, generosity and warmth,” Hillman’s statement said. ”Billy was a pioneer in his field and helped many people fulfill their dreams. He will be greatly missed as a loyal and compassionate friend.”

[UPDATE #5]

Preliminary results of an autopsy for TV pitchman Billy Mays were released at noon showing no sign that external factors caused his death.

The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner Department began conducting the autopsy this morning.

During a noon a news conference, Dr. Vernard Adams said the autopsy revealed signs of heart disease and cholesterol, but no evidence of any external or internal injuries.

“There has been speculation about an impact to the head that Mr. Mays received during a recent hard aircraft landing. The autopsy found no external or internal head trauma,” Dr. Adams said.

Dr. Adams said heart disease is capable of causing sudden death, but stopped short of ruling it the cause of death.

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