UPDATED: 6:18 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21
An Oak Forest man died Friday morning, days after being involved in a four-vehicle crash at the intersection of 159th Street and Oak Park Avenue in Tinley Park, the county medical examiner's office reports.
David Van Heel, 50, of the 15100 block of Spruce Lane in Oak Forest, was pronounced dead at Palos Community Hospital early Friday, Oct. 19, the Cook County medical examiner's office confirmed. His body also had been released to the family, a representative from the agency said.
READ: 5 Hurt in Series of Morning Car Crashes
An autopsy performed Saturday determined Van Heel died of a myocardial infarction—or heart attack—with heart disease listed as a secondary cause, according to a Sun-Times Media report.
. , and another involving two vehicles and a light pole occurred at 183rd Street and Harlem Avenue. No one was seriously injured in those accidents.
Van Heel, who turned 50 last month, had been unresponsive since the accident, a friend told Patch earlier this week. Initially, the Oak Forest man had been reported dead at the scene, but he was revived at the hospital, authorities said at the time.
The friend also said Van Heel suffered "a massive heart attack" right before the crash. Tinley Park Police have not released a cause of the crash yet, and accident investigators were at the scene Monday morning, reconstructing the incident.
Members of Van Heel's family lauded the quick response time and hard work of the paramedics and other emergency workers who tried to save him, the friend added.
Visitation hours and funeral service information were unavailable at this time.
Share your memories of Van Heel and your sympathies for his family in the comments section and on his Patch In Memory page.
Get News Alerts and Facebook Updates From These Patch Sites:
