Sad News: Frank Meza Found Dead In LA River

Greenliner, I think what some people are telling you is they don't feel that any culpability lies with MI, RW, LR, etc. Even if he felt shamed, the mass media doesn't either. They simply told the truth.

Did you happen to notice Christian Hesch post on here or Kevin Hadsell. Ironically, I had not even heard of Hadsell as I don't get on LR that much anymore either. But it does go to show you that runners have a short memory, especially for those who own up to their mistakes and make amends.

I have yet to hear anything reasonable about what can/should be done. Should we not publish cheaters? What if simply the publishing of cheaters pushes some people too far? We need to simply let people behave poorly? I think it is reasonable to say withhold publication until some reasonable state of equipoise is reached where the facts on both sides are there and discussion should be had.

triathleteguru wrote:

Who here actually believe's that Dr Meza had a genuine heart condition?

Even as the controversy over his LA Marathon time was swirling, Frank Meza faced additional pressure from a newly developed health issue, his family disclosed.

It arose, they said, even as he was planning to debunk the skepticism over his sub-three hour marathons by inviting a chaperon and video camera to accompany him in his next race.

But during a training run in May in Debs park with his daughter-in-law, he began perspiring excessively, his heart racing, and he called to her, she said. He got off the trail with difficulty, and later was diagnosed with a ruptured chordae tending, a connective tissue in the heart.

He faced open-heart surgery, and the likelihood his athletic level of cardiovascular conditioning would never return, said Tina Meza. A sub-three hour marathon to disarm his detractors would be out of the question.

Or is it more likely that when faced with the option of "running with an observer" in 2020, he manufactured a health condition? Perhaps this story is actually what happens when Frank finds himself running with an observer, his daughter-in-law. They're running together and she notices how hard he's having to work to keep up with her, she thinks - "Dr Meza, world record marathon runner is perspiring excessively running with me"? Of course, being a part of a family of Doctors, this deception if true would have to be carried out fully with a fake Dr or hospital visit, but Dr Meza after all has manufactured a decade of running lies, what's another lie.

Of course, this is all pure speculation on my part, based on Dr. Meza's frequency of fabricating tall tales. Would the full autopsy report rule out the existence of "a ruptured chordae tending"? Seems like if they are trying to determine if Dr Meza jumped or was sitting on the bridge and his heart gave out, they would examine his heart health. Anyways, if there are any investigative reporter types reading this, it would provide quite an addition to the story if the autopsy report says Dr Meza's heart was completely healthy with no signs of a ruptured chordae tending.

But suppose it's true, he actually did have a ruptured chordae tending. Why was he allowed by his medical doctor wife to go out on a solo run? 70 year old facing open heart surgery is going out running on his own? Hmmm....

fisky wrote:

triathleteguru wrote:

Who here actually believe's that Dr Meza had a genuine heart condition?

Or is it more likely that when faced with the option of "running with an observer" in 2020, he manufactured a health condition? Perhaps this story is actually what happens when Frank finds himself running with an observer, his daughter-in-law. They're running together and she notices how hard he's having to work to keep up with her, she thinks - "Dr Meza, world record marathon runner is perspiring excessively running with me"? Of course, being a part of a family of Doctors, this deception if true would have to be carried out fully with a fake Dr or hospital visit, but Dr Meza after all has manufactured a decade of running lies, what's another lie.

Of course, this is all pure speculation on my part, based on Dr. Meza's frequency of fabricating tall tales. Would the full autopsy report rule out the existence of "a ruptured chordae tending"? Seems like if they are trying to determine if Dr Meza jumped or was sitting on the bridge and his heart gave out, they would examine his heart health. Anyways, if there are any investigative reporter types reading this, it would provide quite an addition to the story if the autopsy report says Dr Meza's heart was completely healthy with no signs of a ruptured chordae tending.

But suppose it's true, he actually did have a ruptured chordae tending. Why was he allowed by his medical doctor wife to go out on a solo run? 70 year old facing open heart surgery is going out running on his own? Hmmm....

I assumed this condition was a typo. Sure enough, it's ruptured chordae tendineae.

I did a quick search and found that this condition can be extremely serious. Quoting from the study below..."In contrast to patients with the usual form of rheumatic mitral regurgitation, those with ruptured chordae tendineae usually die within a year, " Later in the same study... "[only] Three of these eight patients are [still] living, and [only] two show marked improvement 5 months and 3 years after surgery."

In short, mortality risk with ruptured chordae tendeneae is very high. As a doctor, Frank would have known this. In fact, doctors understand better than laypersons how these last few months of life can be.

So far, this condition hasn't been considered to be a primary factor in Frank's actions, but in view of the nature of this condition, perhaps it was a big factor than has been recognized.

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/01.CIR.31.4.506

Onwards wrote:

fisky wrote:

I assumed this condition was a typo. Sure enough, it's ruptured chordae tendineae.

I did a quick search and found that this condition can be extremely serious. Quoting from the study below..."In contrast to patients with the usual form of rheumatic mitral regurgitation, those with ruptured chordae tendineae usually die within a year, " Later in the same study... "[only] Three of these eight patients are [still] living, and [only] two show marked improvement 5 months and 3 years after surgery."

In short, mortality risk with ruptured chordae tendeneae is very high. As a doctor, Frank would have known this. In fact, doctors understand better than laypersons how these last few months of life can be.

So far, this condition hasn't been considered to be a primary factor in Frank's actions, but in view of the nature of this condition, perhaps it was a big factor than has been recognized.

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/01.CIR.31.4.506

The journal you reference is dated April, 1965. Hopefully, the statistics have improved.