Richard Simmons' Brother Reveals Fitness Guru's Tragic Cause Of Death

We know now what caused Richard Simmons‘ death.

The longtime fitness guru was found dead at his home in Los Angeles back on July 13 by his longtime housekeeper. He was 76 years old, and had just celebrated his birthday the prior day. Having mostly left the spotlight in recent years, Richard’s passing came as quite a shock to many people.

Plus, the Los Angeles Police Department made an initial indication that the cause of Simmons’ death was to be deferred pending additional testing. Naturally, that made fans and mourners wonder what might have happened to the gentle and kind star. And now, we know. On Wednesday, the Simmons family released a statement to People about the exact circumstances that led to Richard’s sad death.

The statement was delivered by Simmons family spokesperson Tom Estey, who indicated that Richard’s brother Lenny Simmons was the one who received the phone call from medical examiners with definitive findings. According to the LA County Coroner’s Office, Richard’s death was officially deemed accidental. Furthermore, it was due to multiple complicating factors, including injuries from recent falls and the presence of heart disease. The statement explained:

“This morning, Richard Simmons’ brother Lenny, received a call from the LA Coroner’s office. The Coroner informed Lenny that Richard’s death was accidental due to complications from recent falls and heart disease as a contributing factor. The toxicology report was negative other than medication Richard had been prescribed. The Family wishes to thank everyone for their outpouring of love and support during this time of great loss.”

Wow.

Such a sad thing. We knew that Richard had experienced recent falls and related medical episodes — including one on his birthday that he had ultimately decided not to deal with until the next day, which turned out to be too late. So, to know now that those issues were part of what led to his death makes it all the more tragic. Ugh.

As you may recall, Lenny has been vocally mourning his brother ever since Richard’s passing last month. To that end, the mourning brother previously spoke to the media with a message of hope and a plea for people to remember the famed fitness icon positively:

“I don’t want people to be sad about my brother. I want them to remember him for the genuine joy and love he brought to people’s lives. He truly cared about people. He called, wrote and emailed thousands of people throughout his career to offer help. So, don’t be sad. Celebrate his life.”

That’s great advice that we should surely all take.

[Image via Andres Otero/WENN]