In the early hours of Christmas Day, 2016, George Michael was found dead at his Oxfordshire home by his boyfriend Fadi Fawaz.
His lover, Fadi, recalled: “We were supposed to be going for Christmas lunch.
“I went round there to wake him up and he was just gone, lying peacefully in bed.”
On March 7, 2017, senior coroner for Oxfordshire Darren Salter confirmed the pop star’s cause of death.
George died of natural causes after suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver.
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Dilated cardiomyopathy
The Mayo Clinic describes dilated cardiomyopathy as a type of heart muscle disease.
The condition causes the heart chambers to “thin and stretch”, making it harder for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body.
Symptoms of dilated cardiomyopathy can include fatigue and shortness of breath.
While symptoms can be dismissed, the condition can be “life-threatening”, but other signs to look out for include:
- Swelling in the legs, ankles, feet or belly
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Fast, fluttering or pounding heartbeat.
Fatty liver
The NHS affirms that a fatty liver can lead to cirrhosis if the condition is left to progress.
There are four main stages of a fatty liver, such as:
- Steatosis
- Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
- Fibrosis
- Cirrhosis.
Delving into each stage, the NHS explains that steatosis is “a largely harmless build-up of fat in the liver cells”.
The second stage, steatohepatitis, is “more serious” because it means the organ has become inflamed.
By the third stage, the organ is persistently inflamed meaning scar tissue will develop around the liver and in the nearby blood vessels.
Cirrhosis is the final stage, after years of inflammation, where the liver shrinks and becomes scarred and lumpy.
People over the age of 50 are at higher risk of developing a fatty liver, which can be exacerbated by numerous factors, such as having metabolic syndrome or diabetes.
George Michael’s funeral was held in Highgate West Cemetery on March 29, 2017.
