Do we know what killed Bruce Lee? Yes, and no – and that’s left ample room for speculation as to the real cause
Doctors said the martial arts star died at the age of 32 from a build-up of fluid on the brain, but could not agree on what lay behind it. Was it cannabis? A painkiller? Epilepsy? Theories about what really caused his death still emerge
In a special series commemorating the 45th anniversary of Bruce Lee’s death on July 20, 1973, we aim to set the facts straight – as well as exploring some little known trivia – about the life of the martial arts legend.
Do we know what killed Bruce Lee? The answer is yes and no.
The report from Hong Kong’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital stated that the death of the martial arts superstar on July 20, 1973, at the age of 32, was due to acute cerebral oedema – that is, excess accumulation of fluid in the brain.
The skull is like a rigid box that cannot be stretched; the excess fluid exerts pressure on the brain and therefore hampers the cranial blood flow, and this can lead to brain death. But what caused the cerebral oedema in Lee has never been established.
According to Matthew Polly’s authoritative book Bruce Lee: A Life, there was disagreement about the cause of the cerebral oedema between doctors at the official inquest following Lee’s death