What happens when you die of an aortic aneurysm?

My grandma passed away on Monday. They found her body lying in the kitchen yesterday afternoon and they think she collapsed when she was getting her morning coffee. At Christmas time in 2014 she was diagnosed with her aneurysm and the doctor told her that with surgery she had a 50% chance of surviving, and without it, she had about two years left. She didn't get the surgery and two years and about three months later, she's gone. My mom says she must have been dead before the hit the ground. Is this true? What is going on inside the body when an aneurysm happens, and what causes it to finally burst? Did she suffer any pain? How and why does this happen?

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hlpflwthat · M

This is a tough area of research - no one wants to volunteer. When your Gma's aortic burst, she bled to death as rapidly as someone can - because the aortic is our largest and primary artery. Couldn't say if she's still alive when she hits the floor, but she was very likely unconscious. The sudden drop in blood pressure would causes us to pass out. I'd guess she experienced very little - if any - pain or distress.

A person can bleed to death in minutes from severing one of the larger arteries in our neck or legs. The aortic is far larger, so the process is very quick. In my opinion, it would certainly beat most other methods of dying.

This feels kinda cold after writing it, but it seems like you're wondering more about the physical occurrence. Sorry about you losing your Gma. Peace.