Grant Wahl's wife is honoring his legacy.
Days after her husband passed away while covering the World Cup in Qatar, Dr. Celine Gounder penned a message to supporters on Grant's Substack.
"I want to express our deepest gratitude for the outpouring of support, love, and sympathy from around the world," she wrote on Dec. 14. "This continues to be a very difficult and painful time as we grieve a beloved husband, brother, and friend. It is some comfort to know that so many people Grant reached—countless colleagues, readers, athletes, coaches, friends, and fans—are grieving alongside us."
Celine went on to share Grant's cause of death. "An autopsy was performed by the New York City Medical Examiner's Office, she continued. "Grant died from the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium. The chest pressure he experienced shortly before his death may have represented the initial symptoms. No amount of CPR or shocks would have saved him. His death was unrelated to COVID. His death was unrelated to vaccination status. There was nothing nefarious about his death."
Celine also described that getting her husband's body back to the U.S. was a coordinated effort "that required coordination from multiple agencies domestically and internationally."
"Our sincere gratitude to everyone involved in repatriating Grant," she continued. "In particular the White House, the U.S. Department of State, FIFA, U.S. Soccer and American Airlines."
And she also gave fans who only knew Grant as a respected sports journalist a glimpse into who he was when he wasn't covering soccer matches.
"Grant was an incredibly empathetic, dedicated, and loving husband, brother, uncle, and son who was our greatest teammate and fan," she wrote.
We will forever cherish the gift of his life; to share his company was our greatest love and source of joy. Grant curated friends from all cultures and walks of life, for whom he was a generous listener, an enthusiast, a champion of others."
"To know Grant was to know a true renaissance man; he was endlessly curious about the world, and a lover of literature, art, music, food, and wine," she added. "He was equally in his element cooking a quiet dinner, walking his beloved Zizou and Coco through Manhattan, gathering friends for a raucous dinner party, and traipsing across Moldova chasing a story."