Calgary man dies in Mexican hospital after wife puts out urgent call for blood donors

A Calgary man hospitalized in Mexico while on vacationhas died, less than a day after his wife put out a call on social media for blood donations.

"We're sad to report that Troy Black passed away last night due to cardiac arrest," read aposton Facebook to a group dedicated to supporting the couple.

• Calgarians in Mexico put out urgent call for O+ blood donors, after local blood bank runs out

Black's wife, Lindsay Black, put out anan urgentcall for Type O+ blood donors in Mexico after he suddenlyfell ill on Thursday and was placed on life support.

Doctors at San Javier Hospital in Puerto Vallarta discovered he had a tear in his esophagus that would not clot. Black was givensix bags ofO+ blood atthe local hospital the hospital's entire supply.

Blackdied at 9:20 p.m. Saturday, according to the Puerto VallartaMedical Center. A spokesperson for the hospital said the local blood bank was still running low on O+ blood.

According to the Facebook post, the family is making arrangements to bring Black's body back to Calgary.

'Such a big heart'

Black is the son of former Alberta MLAPat Nelson. Nelson served as MLAfor 15 years, and wasthe province's minister of energy at one time, and minister of finance.

Black once worked as the special advisor to Alberta's former justice minister, Jonathan Denis, who was informed of the death by both Black's wife and Nelson.

Denis told CBC News Black was also a personal friend.

"This is just devastating," Denis said. "I can't imagine, if I feel this bad, how they must feel as his family members. It's beyond terrible. A few days ago we were just texting."

Black was just 33 years old, Denis said.

"He was just the salt of the earth, the best friend you could ever ask for. He always just wanted to be there for people in his life. He had such a big heart, he was so loyal and was taken far, far before his time," Denis said.

Denis said despite the tragedy, Black's death has brought out the best in a lot of people. Many people posted to the Facebook group saying they were still going to donate blood in Black's honour.

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