A police investigation has confirmed former US swimming champion Jamie Cail died of accidental fentanyl poisoning.
An autopsy report last week found the 42-year-old, who passed away suddenly in February, died of “fentanyl intoxication with aspiration of gastric content,” the Virgin Islands Police Department said in a statement.
The 1997 Pan Pacs gold medallist was living in the Virgin Islands when she was found dead by her boyfriend on the floor of their home on February 21.
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She was rushed to hospital and was administered CPR but pronounced dead on arrival.
The boyfriend told authorities at the time that he had been at bar and left after midnight.
“Upon his arrival, he discovered his girlfriend on the floor,” police said.
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Jamie Cail cause of death has been confirmed in an autopsy. Credit: Getty
Police were alerted to the death at 2.39am on what was a Tuesday morning.
“At approximately 12.08am, a male left a local bar to check on his girlfriend at their residence,” a police statement said at the time.
“Upon his arrival, he discovered his girlfriend on the floor. With assistance from a friend, the male was able to get the female to a nearby vehicle and transported the female to the Myrah Keating-Smith Clinic.
“Once at the clinic, CPR was rendered and 911 was notified, however, the female succumbed to her ailment. The female was identified by her boyfriend as 42-year-old, Ms Jamie Cail from New Hampshire.”
Cail was a teenage swimming star in the US in the 1990s.
She represented the US national B team at the FINA World Cup in Brazil in 1998-1999 and won a silver medal in the 800m freestyle event.
In 1997, as a teenager, she was a member of the US relay team that won gold in the Pan Pacific Championships.
Jamie Cail in action during a national swimming championships in California in 1998. Credit: Getty Images
She still holds school swimming records from when she competed in under-16 events.
She is originally from Claremont, New Hampshire.
According to swimswam.com, she swam for the legendary Bolles School in Jacksonville and in 2000-2001 she also competed for the University of Maine’s women’s swim team.
Fentanyl is a highly potent pain medicine estimated to be about 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Because of the opioid drug’s potency, its primary use is in cancer patients and people recovering from major surgeries.
Used incorrectly, even in small doses, it can be lethal.
Deaths from fentanyl overdoses have been steadily increasing in America in recent years.
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