Important lesson to learn from the Kyle Busch death: Listen to your body

The sad thing about the death of NASCAR star Kyle Busch, who passed away this week at the too young age of 41: it was entirely preventable.

Here’s where I need to tell you: listen to your body.

Busch passed on Thursday from severe pneumonia that turned into life-threatening sepsis; the problem here being, he thought he was dealing with, not pneumonia, but a simple sinus infection.

This is a supreme athlete thinking, ‘Tis but a cold, I’m not going to let a cold slow me down.

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ICYMI

• Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champ Kyle Busch, 41, dead after ‘severe illness’
• Update: NASCAR star Kyle Busch death caused by pneumonia, sepsis

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I know the thinking there.

I’m not a top athlete like a Kyle Busch, but I’ve trained like one for years – running marathons, half-marathons and numerous 5Ks and 10Ks, after years of throwing up hundreds of pounds as a powerlifter.

In the winter of 2021, I thought I had a cold, and when I couldn’t shake it, I ignored my wife telling me, Go to the doctor, and instead went on about life as if nothing was wrong, but a common cold.

Finally, after a month of not getting better, I went to the doctor – on my way to broadcasting a VMI Soccer game.

I didn’t make it to the soccer game.

My “cold” wasn’t pneumonia; in my case, it was blood clots that had traveled up my left leg into my lungs, leading to a pulmonary embolism.

I would learn later that, really, at any point in the preceding four weeks, I could have just died.

Only reason I didn’t: my elite level of fitness.

My best guess with Kyle Busch is, elite fitness is what kept him doing things as usual, including winning a NASCAR Truck Series race, as he, unknowingly, was battling pneumonia.

If you’re inclined to say, elite athlete, a NASCAR guy? NASCAR drivers aren’t behind the wheel of a sedan or SUV for 500 and 600 miles on Sundays; they’re wrestling massive G-forces for three or four hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic on banked ovals and road courses.

And in the case of Kyle Busch, he was out there on Fridays and Saturdays most weeks, ahead of Sunday.

He thought he was invincible – to be fair, most of us do.

News flash: we’re not.

Listen to your body.

If it tells you that you need to take a break, take a break.

I’m only here to tell you this out of pure dumb luck.

Don’t let something that is preventable from running your luck out.