Man found dead in Norridge is Cook County’s 31st cold-related death this season

An 83-year-old man who died Thursday is Cook County’s 31st cold-related death since the start of the season.

Donald Kalinsky was found unresponsive at 5:52 p.m. in the back yard of his home in the 4300 block of North Overhill Avenue in northwest suburban Norridge, according to Norridge police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A neighbor found him lying on the ground with a shovel nearby, and investigators think he may have collapsed while shoveling snow, police said. He was dead at the scene.

An autopsy released Saturday said Kalinsky died of heart disease with cold exposure as a contributing factor. His death was ruled an accident.

Last fall and winter, 47 deaths were found to be at least partially cold-related between Oct. 1, 2017, and April 1, 2018, according to the medical examine’s office. More than 250 people have died of cold-related causes in Cook County since 2006.