On a summer afternoon in 1973, martial arts superstar Bruce Lee died suddenly in a quiet neighborhood in Hong Kong, spending his last days at the home of actress Ding Pei.
On that day, they originally gathered together to discuss the details of the upcoming movie "Game of Life and Death", but no one expected that this meeting would become the curtain call of Bruce Lee's life.
Bruce Lee's sudden death not only shocked the entire film industry, but also caused huge mourning and countless speculations around the world.
The sudden death of the film superstar has left countless questions: what caused his death?
July 20, 1973 is a day that will never be forgotten for the film industry and martial arts lovers.
On this day, martial arts master Bruce Lee suddenly fainted at the home of Hong Kong actress Ding Pei, and although an emergency rescue was carried out, the rescue was finally declared ineffective, shocking the entire entertainment industry and his global fans.
After the incident, Ding Pei and Zou Wenhuai hurriedly called the emergency number. According to police records, police and ambulance crews quickly arrived at Ding Pei's residence. The records detail the time of day, who was dispatched and who arrived at the scene.
According to these records, when the paramedics arrived at the scene, they immediately gave Bruce Lee initial first aid, but because Bruce Lee's condition was extremely serious, they had to lift him into an ambulance and go straight to the nearest hospital.
The ambulance's exit records show that the vehicle departed from Ding Pei's house and rushed all the way to the hospital. Throughout the process, the paramedics did their best to resuscitate, but Bruce Lee's signs of life gradually waned.
After arriving at the hospital, despite the emergency rescue carried out by the team of doctors, Bruce Lee ultimately failed to save his life due to complex physical reactions.
Ding Pei told the outside world after the incident that he and Bruce Lee had no other personal relationship, and they were pure friends and work partners. She emphasized that Bruce Lee had a sudden illness while discussing work at her home.
In this incident, Ding Pei tried his best to provide all possible help, including calling for emergency services in a timely manner. And Zou Wenhuai also stood up to support Ding Pei's statement, he confirmed Ding Pei's statement, and publicly defended her, trying to dispel the outside world's misunderstanding and suspicion of her.
However, despite Ding Pei and Zou Wenhuai's explanations trying to set the record straight, the public is still full of questions and speculation about the true cause of Bruce Lee's death. Bruce Lee's sudden death has attracted widespread attention, and various conspiracy theories about his death have also arisen.
People are puzzled and saddened by the mysterious death of the martial arts superstar at such a young age, with many fans even speculating that there may be hidden truths.
On July 26, Bruce Lee's wife, Linda, checked her husband's body back to Hong Kong and issued a statement at the airport to gathered media.
She claimed that Bruce Lee died because of an accidental fall at home. This statement quickly attracted a lot of attention from the public and the media, as it was very different from the information provided by the actress Ding Pei, who was present at the time.
Ding Pei had made it clear that Bruce Lee suddenly fainted in her residence and died as a result.
As soon as Linda's statement was released in the media, it immediately caused an uproar. This contradictory information has left the public with strong questions about the true cause of Bruce Lee's death.
Against this backdrop, some journalists began to track police records and ambulance records in an attempt to find out the truth.
According to police records, on the evening of July 20, 1973, the police received an emergency call and went to Ding Pei's residence. Records show that by the time police arrived at the scene, Bruce Lee was already unconscious.
The ambulance's exit records also confirmed that paramedics carried Bruce Lee into the ambulance from Ding Pei's home, which is inconsistent with Linda's claim that Bruce Lee fell at home.
The incident was widely covered in the media, and many newspapers and television stations began to question Linda's claims, citing police and medical records as evidence.
Public interest in the case quickly heated, and many began to question whether there was a deeper cause for Bruce Lee's sudden death.
In the days that followed, the discussion about the cause of Bruce Lee's death became more and more intense. On the one hand, Ding Pei and Zou Wenhuai insisted that Bruce Lee died suddenly due to health problems at Ding Pei's home, while Linda's statement seemed to be intended to simplify the cause of death to a family accident.
This contradictory statement not only caused confusion in public opinion, but also led to a deeper excavation of Bruce Lee's private life and the relationships between those around him.
In the face of sustained pressure from the media and the public, the police conducted a more detailed investigation. Through a re-examination of the scene and further questioning of those involved, the police tried to construct a detailed timeline and events of the night of the incident, hoping to bring some clarity to this bewildering case.
At the same time, medical experts also reviewed Bruce Lee's autopsy report, exploring possible medical causes, such as drug reactions, the consequences of extreme physical training, etc., in an attempt to explain his sudden death from a scientific point of view.
Despite various professional explanations and in-depth media coverage, Bruce Lee's death still left many unsolved mysteries and became the focus of discussion in later generations.
Forty-two years after Bruce Lee's death, Ding Pei publicly admitted his lover relationship with Bruce Lee for the first time in his autobiography "Bruce Lee and My Old Times: Half a Life of Practice, A Lifetime of Remembrance". In the book, she describes the deep friendship she had with Bruce Lee and the time they spent together.
Ding Pei's autobiography offers a different image of Bruce Lee than the public has previously known, showing a more human martial arts superstar, as well as his persistence in artistic pursuits and emotional vulnerability.
In his autobiography, Ding Pei recalls in detail the details of the day of Bruce Lee's death, from the moment he walked through the door, to the painkillers he took, to his last hours in bed.
On July 20, 1973, Ding Pei's home was furnished simply and comfortably, suitable for work and rest. On that day, she invited Bruce Lee and Zou Wenhuai to her residence, planning to discuss in detail the upcoming movie "The Game of Life and Death".
In the living room, there are sketches and scripts for the film, and the three of them sit around and have an in-depth discussion about each scene of the film.
During the discussion, Bruce Lee suddenly said that he felt discomfort in his head. Ding Pei immediately got up, took out a piece of painkiller from a nearby medicine box, and handed it to Bruce Lee.
Bruce Lee took the pill and quickly took it, hoping to relieve the discomfort caused by the headache. His expression looked a little tired, obviously caused by the pressure of work and his physical condition.
After taking the medicine, Bruce Lee sat for a while, hoping that the headache would be relieved. However, he soon said that he was still not feeling well and decided to lie down and rest in Ding Pei's room for a while.
He didn't even have time to take off his shoes, he fell headlong on the bed, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
At about 9 o'clock in the evening, after the meal was ready, Ding Pei walked into the guest room and tried to wake up Bruce Lee. She shook him gently and called his name, but Bruce Lee didn't react to it and remained asleep.
Ding Pei felt a little uneasy, and hurriedly called Zou Wenhuai, hoping that he could help wake up Bruce Lee.
Zou Wenhuai entered the room and saw Bruce Lee lying on the bed, his face pale, and he also tried to wake Bruce Lee, but to no avail.
Soon, ambulances and paramedics quickly arrived at the scene. Doctors conducted a preliminary examination of Bruce Lee, but to his dismay, after a series of first aid measures, doctors finally confirmed that Bruce Lee had no signs of life.
In Ding Pei's home, what should have been a creative and energetic discussion of the film suddenly turns into a tragedy.
After Bruce Lee's sudden death, Hong Kong authorities quickly began autopsy proceedings to find out the cause of his death.
The autopsy was conducted by a team of veteran forensic doctors who carefully conducted a thorough examination of Bruce Lee's body in the hope of unraveling the mystery of the international movie star's death.
After a series of tests and examinations, the forensic doctor extracted aspirin and marijuana components from Bruce Lee's stomach contents, a discovery that became the key to further investigation.
The medical examiner's report pointed out that the substances in Bruce Lee's body matched the speculation that he used various drugs to relieve discomfort due to extreme training and physical fatigue during his lifetime.
Aspirin is a commonly used painkiller, while cannabis is thought to be used to deal with physical pain and stress after long and intense training.
Because of the concentration and type of these drugs detected in the body, there was no indication of poisons or other lethal substances, so the medical examiner ruled out suspicion that Ding Pei might have murdered Bruce Lee.
Bruce Lee's training methods are widely known, and his martial arts training often reaches the limits of the human body. Not only do he perform difficult moves in movies, but he also continues to perform high-intensity physical exercises in his life.
This long, high-intensity training takes a great strain on his body, especially on his nervous system and muscles.
To cope with these physical aches and fatigues caused by overtraining, Bruce Lee often took painkillers, which included those containing cannabis ingredients.
On that day, July 20, 1973, Bruce Lee was given painkillers for a headache, which had become his usual practice of coping with physical discomfort.
The forensic report states that the drug reaction in Bruce Lee's body may have triggered an allergic reaction, which eventually led to cerebral edema.
Cerebral edema is a serious medical condition that can be caused by drug allergies, head injuries, or other health problems, where fluid builds up in brain tissue, increasing intracranial pressure and leading to fatal consequences.
After completing the autopsy, the medical examiner recorded all the medical findings in detail and described in detail the mechanisms that led to Bruce Lee's death in the report.
The report, which was later presented to the police and Bruce Lee's family, provided the public with a relatively clear explanation that Bruce Lee's death was caused by his extreme physical training and maladaptation to the ingredients of the drug.
Reference: "Bruce Lee and My Old Times: Half a Life's Practice, A Lifetime of Nostalgia"