Disturbing Details Found In Bob Saget's Autopsy Report
On January 9, 2022, the comedy world was dealt a massive blow with the announcement of comedian Bob Saget's death. He was found dead at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lake hotel following several performances, according to Newsmax.
According to Biography, Saget was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1956 and was best known to audiences for his portrayal of Danny Tanner on the sitcom "Full House" and its subsequent follow-up "Fuller House." He was also the first to host the long-running series "America's Funniest Home Videos." In subsequent years, Saget turned his focus back to the raunchy humor that gave him his big break, which contrasted with the clean, family-friendly appearances he was known for on television.
At the time of his death, the Saget family released a statement (via CNN): "He was everything to us, and we want you to know how much he loved his fans, performing live and bringing people from all walks of life together with laughter. Though we ask for privacy at this time, we invite you to join us in remembering the love and laughter that Bob brought to the world."
The initial reports of Saget's death painted a different picture
When news of Bob Saget's death first broke, details of the hotel room scene were immediately reported. According to the Daily Mail, the comedian was found lying in his hotel bed face up with his left arm across his chest. He was reportedly cold to the touch by the time the hotel security staff and Orange County Sheriff Deputies arrived at his room. These details led to initial speculation that Saget had died in his sleep after suffering a heart attack. TMZ even reported a week after his death that heart attacks run in the Saget family.
Additionally, in the days and weeks leading up to his death, Saget revealed that he had dealt with COVID-19 recently. While it was unclear when Saget was infected with the virus, he mentioned during an appearance on the Orlando-based podcast "A Corporate Time with Tom & Dan" that he dealt with the Omicron variant of the virus, which only appeared in November 2021, two months before his death. While speculation remained primarily on the heart attack angle as the comedian's cause of death for about a month after his passing, the release of Saget's autopsy report completely shifted the direction of the story with a bombshell piece of information.
Head trauma was revealed as the cause of death
Just over a month after his passing, Bob Saget's family released a statement regarding the comedian's true cause of death (via CNN). "The authorities have determined that Bob passed from head trauma. They have concluded that he accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it, and went to sleep," their statement said, before adding, "No drugs or alcohol were involved."
At the time, it was a shocking revelation and a completely unexpected development in the story, with the family's statement being released just before the official release of the medical examiner's report. Once released, the report from the chief medical examiner of Orange and Osceola counties confirmed the family's statement, according to Newsmax. The report read: "It is most probable that the decedent suffered an unwitnessed fall backward and struck the posterior aspect of his head."
The severity of Saget's injuries is shocking
While the manner of Bob Saget's death alone stunned fans, the severity of his injuries is nothing short of shocking. According to U.S. News & World Report, he was found to have multiple skull fractures, but the report said that there was no evidence of injuries in other parts of the body — something that would normally be seen in someone who had suffered a fall.
The question turned to how Saget could've sustained such severe injuries. Dr. Jeffrey Bazarian, a concussion expert and emergency physician, told The New York Times that if someone hits their head in just the right manner, such injuries are possible. "It's like an egg cracking," he said. "You hit it in one spot, and it can crack from the back to the front." Dr. Bazarian also noted that he doubted that Saget "was lucid and doubt he thought, 'I'm just going to sleep this off.'"
Still, the severity of Saget's injuries to the back, right, and front of his skull is so high that another doctor — Dr. Gavin Britz, the chair in neurosurgery at Houston Methodist — told The New York Times that such injuries are "something I find with someone with a baseball bat to the head, or who has fallen from 20 or 30 feet."