Medical experts familiar with postoperative complications say such an event could be consistent with damage to the phrenic nerve—a nerve that controls the diaphragm and allows for automatic breathing. If severed or impaired during cervical spine surgery, it could cause respiratory paralysis.

According to documentation from the Pinellas County Forensic Science Center, Bollea had been diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)—a slow-progressing blood cancer—and atrial fibrillation, a heart condition linked to irregular rhythm. Both were listed in the official cremation approval.