Cook County’s first cold-related death of the season reported in Avondale

A homeless man who died last week in Avondale is Chicago’s first death related to cold exposure this season, the Cook County medical examiner’s office announced Thursday.

About 7:20 a.m. Nov. 1, a passerby noticed a man in distress on a sidewalk in the 3600 block of West Belmont Avenue and called 911, Chicago police said.

Paramedics arrived and treated the 58-year-old man, who was unresponsive, police said. He was taken to Community First Medical Center and pronounced dead about an hour later.

An autopsy released Thursday found he died of as a result of coronary atherosclerosis with cold exposure and ethanol intoxication as contributing factors, the medical examiner’s office said. The death was ruled accidental.

Police said the man was homeless and without any next of kin.

Last season, the medical examiner’s office recorded 60 deaths in Cook County related to the cold between Sept. 14, 2018 and May 23, 2019.

The fatalities ranged in age between 12 and 93, according to medical examiner’s office data. Three of the cold-related deaths this season came during January’s polar vortex.