What Caused Dave Goldberg's Sudden Death

ByAVIANNE TAN ABCNews logo
Wednesday, May 6, 2015

The death of Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey and husband of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, was caused by severe head trauma and blood loss after he slipped and fell off a treadmill, Mexican authorities said today.

Goldberg, 47, died last Friday in the Hospital of San Javier, near the Four Seasons Hotel he and his family were staying at in Punta Mita, the attorney general of Mexico's state of Nayarit told ABC News in a statement.

The treadmill accident happened at the hotel's gym, where Goldberg injured his head on the right side and suffered a 3-centimeter wound, officials said.

The Silicon Valley executive was found by his brother, who alerted emergency services, officials added.

Goldberg died in the hospital after suffering severe head trauma and hypovolemic shock, authorities said.

Hypovolemic shock is a condition that occurs when someone experiences severe blood loss, causing the heart to be unable to pump blood. It can be caused by internal or external bleeding, burns, excessive perspiration, diarrhea or vomiting, according to the NIH.

The attorney general's office also said it had "exhausted all lines of inquiry in relation to this case."

President Obama remembered Goldberg, saying in part, "We're heartbroken by him leaving us far too soon - but we celebrate a remarkable legacy."

Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg shared a Facebook post written by Goldberg's brother Robert Goldberg.

Although there aren't many studies of treadmill injuries, a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) estimated that more than 70,000 injuries related to exercise equipment occurred between 2007 and 2011, and 66 percent of them happened on treadmills.

However, only about 5 percent of all exercise equipment injuries resulted in hospitalization or death, the BMJ added.

ABC News' Anne Laurent contributed to this report.

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