THE BRUCE LEE STORY 4

THE BRUCE LEE STORY 4

On Bruce Lee's Death

The circumstances surrounding Bruce Lee's death in July 20 of 1973 unleashed a storm of discontent which swept across Asia, and throughout the rest of the world, leaving in its wake a tangled welter of claims and counterclaims regarding the causes of his dying. His physical fitness was too well known for people to accept that he might have simply died of natural causes. (I'm personally think it was a natural causes.)

Bruce with the actress Betty Ting Pei

No one had any premotions of the disaster to come when Bruce went to a meeting with Raymond Chow (Bruce's Producer) at Betty Ting Pei's apartment to talk about finish The Game of Death script, which contained a major role for Betty. Raymond had left them late in the afternoon, planning to meet again later for dinner. Bruce complained of a headache and Betty gave him Equagesic, an aspirin compound she often used herself. Bruce went to lie down in the bedroom. Raymond called in midevening to find out why they had not shown up at the restaurant and Betty told him Bruce was asleep. Chow went back to Betty's apartment and attempted to rouse Bruce, without success. They began to get alarmed and Betty called her doctor, who tried unsuccessfully for several minutes to revive him. They called for an ambulance.

Bruce Lee the "Little Dragon," was dead on arrival at the hospital. Emergency treatment was used to try to stimulate his heart and breathing, but there was no life. Linda arrived with Chow to be with Bruce at the end, but they were too late. How Bruce died is a matter of public record---a brain aneurysm in the vicinity of the cerebral edema, which surfaced in May of 1973. Whether it was present from birth or caused later by a blow to the head is pure conjecture. In any case, he was living on borrowed time with a damaged blood vessel in his head capable of exploding at any moment. The medicine prescribed for him, Dilantin, was not to deal with the problem of edema or aneurysm, but for the epilectic convulsions brought about by the edema. So a cerebral aneurysm claimed him as he slept, unfortunately in Betty Ting Pei's apartment. That Bruce suffered a severe brain trauma two months earlier was known to many people. That a weakness was present, whether congenital or brought about through stress or a hard blow to the head, was a matter of knowledge to many in Hong Kong, particulary in the film industry.

Hong Kong is stunned by the announcement of Lee's death. Thousands line the streets to honour his symbolic burial parade and scores of spectators were injured in the crush. Steel barriers were erected along the coffin's route to restrain the crowd.

Another Tragic Lost Actor and martial artist Brandon Lee, the son of the legendary Bruce Lee, died in Wilmington, North Carolina U.S.A. in March 31, 1993 after being shot in the abdomen during the filming of THE CROW movie. He was 28 years old. His father was only 32 years old when he passed away in 1973.

Bruce Lee was buried in Lake View Cemetery in Seattle U.S.A. Then, Brandon Lee was buried next to his father on April 3, 1993. To this day, 24 years after the Bruce death, fresh flowers are found on his gravestone and his son every day.