BeatKing, better known as Club Godzilla, dies of a pulmonary embolism at the age of 39

Houston rapper BeatKing, also known as Club Godzilla and Justin Riley, has died at the age of 39. He reportedly fainted during a recording session and was rushed to a hospital, where it turned out he had a pulmonary embolism. And unfortunately, pulmonary embolisms can quickly become fatal.

BeatKing first gained wider attention when his single “Crush” essentially crushed it and went viral in 2010. But perhaps his biggest hit was “Then Leave,” which not only went viral on social media in 2020, but also Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot didn’t leave. 100 card for a while, making it all the way to number three. BeatKing’s work has included collaborations with 2 Chainz, Bun B, T-Pain and Ludacris.

A pulmonary embolism is a medical emergency. It’s not something you can just walk away from or use vapor rubs to treat. It’s when a blood clot reaches and blocks an artery that supplies blood to your lungs. Such a clot usually forms in one of the deep veins of your leg, hence the name deep vein thrombosis or DVT for such a clot when it first forms. But less commonly, the clot can come from elsewhere in the body.

Your lungs are quite important because they allow you to breathe and do all the gas exchange work, as it is the place where oxygen enters your bloodstream and carbon dioxide is removed from your red blood cells and then expelled from your mouth and nose. By blocking a pulmonary artery, a pulmonary embolism prevents blood flow to the part of the lung supplied by that artery, which is clearly not good.

If your lung tissue is deprived of blood flow and therefore oxygen, it, like any body tissue, will soon die unless blood flow is restored quickly. In addition, when sufficient blood flow in the pulmonary artery is blocked by a clot or clots, the pressure in the pulmonary artery can continue to increase. This means that your heart has to work even harder to push the blood through this higher pressure. If this pressure becomes too much, your heart will eventually say, “I can’t do this anymore” and fail.

These are the reasons why a pulmonary embolism can be life-threatening. So pay attention to any complaints that could be suspicious for a pulmonary embolism. The most common are sudden unexplained shortness of breath, chest pain or fainting. Other possible symptoms include coughing that produces bloody mucus, a fast or irregular heartbeat, dizziness, or turning blue. Yes, turning blue doesn’t mean everything is fine.

The treatment then consists of keeping your blood as oxygen-rich as possible while trying to get rid of the blood clots and prevent more clots from going to the lungs. The doctor may administer clot-dissolving medications or use an invasive procedure to remove the clots. He or she will also typically start blood thinners to prevent more clots from forming. Time is of the essence. The sooner the treatment, the greater the chance that you will survive the pulmonary embolism.

Of course, the fact that you feel short of breath while reading all this does not necessarily mean that you have a pulmonary embolism. Again, the key is that the symptoms cannot be explained by, for example, increased physical activity or worry. Also know if and when you may be at increased risk for DVTs or other blood clot formation.

Blood tends to clot when it stops moving. That’s what makes your wounds stop bleeding, which is a good thing. But every good thing has its downside. Anything that slows blood flow can increase the risk of blood clotting. For example, physical inactivity can make it more likely for blood to pool in your legs, forming DVTs.

There are also conditions that make clots more likely to form in general. This includes clotting disorders, heart disease that slows blood flow, blood vessel problems that disrupt blood flow, kidney disease, Covid-19 and certain cancers or medications. Surgery can make your blood clot more quickly for a while afterward, usually during the first two or three months after you receive general anesthesia. Oh, and there is smoking. Yes, add the increasing risk of blood clots to the long list of reasons not to smoke.

It is not clear what risks BeatKing may have had for blood clots. Sometimes the reasons for the blood clots are obvious. Sometimes they aren’t. Anyway, unfortunately the pulmonary embolism took BeatKing’s life at the relatively young age of 39.