Former Apple CEO died of ‘respiratory arrest’ according to the document

Oct 11, 2011 07:20 GMT  ·  By
Steve Jobs delivering a keynote address at WWDC '08 in San Francisco, California
   Steve Jobs delivering a keynote address at WWDC '08 in San Francisco, California

Although Cupertino never disclosed the actual cause of Steve Jobs’ death, it has been revealed that it was a respiratory arrest that claimed the life of the Apple co-founder.

The respiratory arrest itself resulted from the pancreatic cancer that hadn’t completely vanished from Jobs’ body and had, in fact, spread to other organs in recent months.

Released by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department and obtained by high-profile media agencies yesterday, the death certificate specifically said that Jobs had a metastatic pancreas neuroendocrine tumor for the past five years.

His immediate cause of death was “respiratory arrest,” according to USA Today.

According to a number of reports, including one statement from the family, Jobs died “peacefully” at his home in Palo Alto. There was no autopsy, and Jobs was buried Friday.

Apple is planning a celebration of Jobs’ life for Apple employees, according to an email send out by the company’s newly-instated CEO, Tim Cook.

On the day Jobs died, Cook said “No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.”

And it appears that they’re on the right track too. The day before Jobs passed away, Apple had launched its latest iPhone.

While the media initially received the iPhone 4S news with mixed reactions, Apple soon released a statement saying they had sold 1 million units in under 24 hours since the phone’s launch.

The figure beats the single-day pre-order record previously held by the controversial iPhone 4 - 600,000 units.

The iPhone 4S will be delivered to customers who pre-ordered one this Friday. The phone will make its retail and carrier debut on the same day.