LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. — It was an undiagnosed heart condition that killed a healthy and active firefighter with the East Lincoln Fire Department, the medical examiner found.
Firefighter Joshua Warren, 34, had been working out when he collapsed with a medical emergency on June 16.
Despite life-saving efforts, Warren died.
“Really couldn’t believe it … A 34-year-old man in his shape would just fall over with a heart condition because he was a picture of health. You would have never...never in a million years would you have expected it,” East Lincoln Fire Department Assistant Chief Mike Turner told WBTV.
In a copy of Warren’s death certificate, obtained by WBTV, the medical examiner said the cause of death was hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease where the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick.
The body has a harder time pumping blood and the condition often goes undiagnosed because there are few symptoms.
The Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association (HCA) says the disease affects over 1 in 500 people of any age, gender or ethnicity.
Fire officials say they weren’t aware of Warren’s heart condition prior to hiring him.
Detecting the disease includes a consultation with a cardiologist, an electrocardiogram and an echocardiogram, reports the HCA.
East Lincoln Fire officials are considering whether to require echocardiograms as part of the medical screening for firefighters.
Warren also volunteered for several fire departments, serving part-time on the Alexis and Lucia-Riverbend departments.
Warren left behind a wife and two young children.