Nearly three months after Tyler Christopher's heartbreaking death, the San Diego Medical Examiner's office has released the cause of the Emmy-winning actor's death. Christopher died of "positional asphyxia due to acute alcohol intoxication."
Positional asphyxia is a condition when someone's position or posture prevents them from breathing adequately. Individuals may die accidentally from positional asphyxia when their mouth and nose are blocked or in a situation where their chest is unable to fully expand. Christopher's death has been ruled accidental.
An underlying condition, coronary artery atherosclerosis, was also listed as a contributing factor in his death.
Prior to his death, Christopher sat down with his former General Hospital co-star, Maurice Benard, on Benard's podcast State of Mind. Christopher opened up about his alcohol addiction and how it had led to a traumatic brain injury and a period of homelessness. "At some point, it will kill you," Christopher said of addiction.
Benard was first to confirm Christopher's death. In a post on Instagram, Benard wrote, "It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of Tyler Christopher. Tyler passed away this morning following a cardiac event in his San Diego apartment. Tyler was a truly talented individual that lit up the screen in every scene he performed and relished bringing joy to his loyal fans through his acting. Tyler was a sweet soul and wonderful friend to all of those who knew him. Tyler was an advocate for better mental health and substance use treatment who openly spoke about his struggles with bipolar depression and alcohol. We are beyond devastated by the loss of our dear friend and pray for his children and his father."
Christopher was just 50 years old at the time of his death.
TMZ was first to report on the cause of Christopher's death.
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