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Boxer died of bleeding on brain, pathologist says
YOUNGSTOWN
Hamzah Ajahmi died of bleeding on his brain after his first professional boxing match, according to preliminary findings of the forensic pathologist who performed the boxer’s autopsy last Wednesday.
“It seems reasonably clear that he died from head injuries from the boxing match,” said the pathologist, Dr. Joseph Ohr, who is Mahoning County’s deputy coroner. “There was no other reason for him to be dead.”
Ajahmi, 19, of Dearborn, Mich., made his professional boxing debut at the “Season’s Beatings” event in a pro-am fight against Warren’s Anthony Taylor on Dec. 19 at the St. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Banquet Center.
Ajahmi went to his knee after the fourth round without being hit and collapsed. He died Dec. 22 in St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital after undergoing brain surgery.
“I could find no weakness in the brain itself,” Dr. Ohr said. “I could find no old injuries on the brain” that occurred before Dec. 19, he added.
“His heart was in perfect condition. He didn’t have a heart attack,” the pathologist said.
During the match, Ajahmi was knocked down but not knocked out, Dr. Ohr said, adding that he saw no evidence of a concussion.
The bleeding on the brain that killed Ajahmi, known as a subdural hematoma, “is the most-common cause of death in a boxing match,” the pathologist said.
The dura is the membrane covering the brain, which supports the blood vessels that drain the brain’s surface, he noted.
A punch quickly rotates the skull, stressing and tearing the tiny blood vessels and causing bleeding, he explained.
“Because there’s a space between the dura and the brain, bleeding can occur that really causes no symptoms of injury,” Dr. Ohr said.
“Suddenly, there’s enough bleeding that causes pressure on the brain, and it’s that pressure that causes the person to collapse and, ultimately, to die,” Dr. Ohr explained.
“They did everything they could do,” the pathologist said of the match physician, ambulance personnel and the neurosurgeon.
Ajahmi was on the operating table at St. Elizabeth less than one hour after the fight, Dr. Ohr noted.
Head gear, such as that worn by Olympic boxers, would not have saved Ajahmi’s life, Dr. Ohr said.
The pathologist added that boxing experts have told him head gear is designed mainly to reduce cuts, not protect the boxer from punches.