Luke Perry died after a “massive stroke” in 2019, leading to the Beverly Hills 90210 star’s death – but there were warning signs beforehand that lay in his work schedule

Beverly Hills 90210 star Luke Perry died following an ischemic cerebrovascular accident, better known as a stroke, in 2019.

The young actor was just 52 when he passed away, and it was determined that his death was caused by a blood clot blocking a blood vessel, which stops the brain from getting blood flow and oxygen. His friends and family were left stunned by the news, as he had been doing “very well” in terms of his health.

But his autopsy revealed something else – that flights he took leading up to his death might have been a sinister contributing factor. During an episode of Autopsy: The Last Hours of, forensic pathologist Dr Michael Hunter explained: “The blood flow to his brain was blocked, causing a catastrophic stroke.

“When investigating the cause of Luke’s stroke, I have to consider any factor of his life that may result in blood vessel blockage. And I’m interested in the fact that he was taking regular flights from LA to Vancouver in order to film Riverdale.”

Nine days before his death, Luke was heading home to Los Angeles after filming two scenes on his final day of work. He admitted he didn’t enjoy travelling back and forth for work – and it might not have helped his health.

Dr Hunter said: “It’s well documented that sitting for prolonged periods in a cramped space like an airplane presents a risk of deep vein thrombosis. DVT occurs when circulation slows and a blood clot forms in a vein located deep inside the body, most often in the leg. If that clot moves, it can block essential blood vessels.”

But he acknowledged that it’s “extremely rare” for DVT to cause strokes – and rare for the condition to arise during flights shorter than six hours. His co-star said he was “always doing something” during the flight – and wasn’t “just a lump in a chair”.

Eventually Dr Hunter discounted the theory that deep vein thrombosis contributed to Luke’s death. But something that might have contributed was his past as a smoker. He explained: “Smoking is one of the leading causes of stroke.”

Something else that might have been an issue was genetics – after Luke’s father died at the age of just 35, with alcohol addiction contributing to the heart attack that killed him. Luke struggled growing up with his abusive dad, while Dr Hunter said: “Research has shown that a child whose parents struggles with an alcohol abuse disorder is up to four times more likely to become an alcoholic.”

Alcoholism can lead to atrial fibrillation and high blood pressure, both of which can lead to stroke. But his friends never remembered Luke being a heavy drinker – so this possibility was also discounted.

It was finally discovered that Luke’s high-cholesterol diet and family genetics were the most likely contributing factors to his death, as Dr Hunter added: “[They] made him prone to Atherosclerosis, a major cause of stroke.”

The star sadly also suffered a major health scare four years before his death. in 2015 precancerous growths were found during a colonoscopy, and he was forced to change his diet to decrease the risk of colorectal cancer developing.

He said at the time: “When I heard that this was the most detectable cancer that we know of yet it’s the second most lethal, I just couldn’t figure out why that was and I wanted to get out there and tell people about it. Right now, there are 23 million Americans who haven’t been screened that need to be screened. If I had waited, it could have been a whole different scenario.”

He was regularly spotted out at the gym and cut down on red meat and potatoes after the scare – making his unexpected death all the more tragic.