Coloring of skin after dying of a heart attack. K so I found this forum after doing a search and came upon a thread from like 2009 about this same subject though my question is kind of different. My dad was killed in a motorcycle accident on April 29th and we think maybe he had a heart attack while on his bike. These are the things we know: 1. We know for a fact that he was NOT speeding. 2. He KNEW those roads. 3. The corner that he come around was not a big one at all. 4. He had zero road rash. 5. Witnesses said there were no animals that had run out in front of him. 6. He was wearing a helmet. The report said that it appeared he had went off the road and tried to get he bike back on, that his tire had hit the guard rail, and that he was ejected from the bike. We know that weekend that he was not feeling that great and complained of a chest cold. My mom had to go and ID him at the hospital so she saw him. She said that he looked beautiful and had no marks or anything like a scratch on his shoulder or something but that was it. However she said that from like his stomach up to his head he was like purpleish coloring. We know that he didn't suffer because he was unconscious at one time and they did try to work on him. A nurse who saw him stopped by the next day she told my mom that the fire department tried to work on him and they had heartbeat at first but then they lost him. She also said that she wondered if he had a heart attack bc the coloring was indicative of one. My mom is also in the medical field she wonders it too. I'm not doubting them just curious to what other people might think. My questions are as follows: 1. If the injuries he had were internal bleeding would it cause his skin to be that color? 2. Or does that sound like a heart attack? I know that we will never know what happened and it doesn't change the fact that he is gone but damn, it makes me go out of my mind. I'm just curious as to what you all think. ---------- Post added 22nd May 2012 at 06:28 PM ---------- Oh and just to add on the bike was hardly damaged.
Re: Coloring of skin after dying of a heart attack. First, I am sorry about your father. There's never any easy way to lose a family member and when it involves a sudden accident, it leaves many questions unanswered. After a person's heart stops beating, gravity and lack of oxygen begins to change the coloring of the body. The skin on top of the body becomes pale and the skin underneath the body takes on a purple-pink color. This is not unique to people suffering heart attacks. It's normal for anyone who passes away. The only way to answer your questions would be for the medical examiner to do an autopsy. Sometimes the law requires one when the cause of death is unknown. But even then, the cause provided by the coroner may be speculation or a best guess.
