CALIFORNIA-- A postal worker who was bitten by a pit bull last week in Escondido has died of a stroke, authorities said Thursday.
The postal worker, identified Thursday by the county medical examiner's office as Diane Jansen, 59, died at 7:45 p.m. Sunday at Palomar Medical Center, an investigator with the office said.
The cause of her death was listed as left basal ganglia hemorrhagic stroke due to hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, the investigator said.
The manner of death was listed as an accident, with the dog bite listed as a contributing condition, according to a report released Thursday by the county medical examiner's office.
Jansen was delivering mail when the dog came out of a home through a partially open garage door, said Katie Woolsey, a spokeswoman for the Humane Society. The dog bit Jansen in the legs.
She said there were three children and no adults at home when the dog bit Jansen. Officials seized the dog and euthanized it at the owner's request.
When rescuers reached Jansen after the attack, her speech was slurred and she became unresponsive, according to the report by the medical examiner's office. She was taken to Palomar Medical Center, where she was diagnosed with intracerebral hemorrhage.
Hospital officials removed Jansen from life support Saturday and she died Sunday night, according to the report.
Officers with the Escondido Police Department investigated the dog attack as did the Escondido Humane Society, and neither found evidence that a crime had occurred, Lt. Chris Wynn said Thursday.
(NC Times - March 8, 2012)
