Navy SEAL trainee who died after Hell Week succumbed to acute pneumonia and cardiac arrest, report says
A Navy SEAL candidate who died hours after completing the grueling stretch of training known as Hell Week succumbed to acute pneumonia and cardiac arrest.
WASHINGTON — A Navy SEAL candidate who died hours after he completed the grueling stretch of training known as Hell Week succumbed to acute pneumonia and cardiac arrest, according to a military investigation obtained by NBC News.
A Naval Special Warfare Command Line of Duty investigation, which was completed last month, found Seaman Kyle Mullen died in the line of duty, not because of his own misconduct.
But the Armed Forces Medical Examiner’s autopsy report, which is included in the investigative report, also found that when Mullen died in February, his heart was more than twice the normal size. An electrocardiogram of his heart nine months earlier had found no abnormalities, according to the Navy’s investigation.
Medical experts who reviewed his case for the investigation were split over whether his enlarged heart was a side effect of the arduous training or possibly due to the use of performance enhancing drugs, or PEDs, after drug paraphernalia were found among his possessions.
When he died on Feb. 4, Mullen had just completed the fourth week of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, commonly known as Hell Week. Beginning on a Sunday afternoon and ending Friday morning, Hell Week exposes candidates to extreme stress to simulate intense combat situations, including training in harsh environments, long periods of swimming in punishing cold water and sleep deprivation.
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