Scots singer Darius Campbell Danesh had been suffering from an undiagnosed heart condition at the time of his death, his devastated girlfriend has revealed.
The former Pop Idol contestant, from Bearsden, near Glasgow, was found dead in an apartment in Rochester, Minnesota, on August 11, 2022.
His death was ruled an accident by the medical examiner who said he died from “inhalation of chloroethane” which is commonly known as ethyl chloride.
Now his heartbroken partner Lauren Cheek, 30, has spoken for the first time since his death and said Darius' heart was twice the size it was supposed to be.
Entrepreneur Lauren told the Sun: “Darius was living with this heart condition that he didn’t know he had.
“So many things could have taken him, but this one thing did, and he died in his sleep.
“His mum told me they only found out after they did the autopsy. His heart was twice the size it was supposed to be, which was fitting, because that is genuinely how he was — he had so much love.
“The autopsy also found he was living with a broken neck, but he refused to get help or complain about it. I think he used (chloroethane) because he was in so much pain and he didn’t want to take pills, not even aspirin.
“That’s what killed him — the substance mixed with his heart and he couldn’t take it.”
In a statement released after his death, Darius' family said his death was an accident and he had been in “chronic pain” for years.
They said: “The results of medical examinations have confirmed that Darius’s death was an accident caused by chloroethane, which is used to treat pain and that tragically lead to respiratory arrest.
"Darius was suffering from chronic neck pain following a car accident in 2010.”
The singer-songwriter and actor made his first bid for fame in ITV show Popstars in 2001 and he also appeared on the first Pop Idol, which was won by Will Young.
After Pop Idol he turned down Simon Cowell’s offer of a record deal and signed with producer Steve Lillywhite, whose credits include U2 and the Rolling Stones.
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