Ivana Trump, Donald Trump’s first wife, died from “blunt impact injuries of torso,” the New York City medical examiner announced Friday.
The 73-year-old was found dead Thursday afternoon at the bottom of the staircase of her Manhattan home. Her death has been ruled an “accident,” the NYC Office of Chief Medical Examiner said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed to The Daily Beast that she died as the result of a fall.
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The revelation comes after a close friend said the Trump matriarch couldn’t walk and struggled to leave her house in the weeks that preceded her death.
Zach Erdem, who declined an interview but confirmed previous comments to the New York Post, said Trump had a hip issue that limited her ability to walk. He added that the former model “was feeling bad” the last time he spoke to her two weeks ago.
“She said she was having pain in her leg,” he told the paper. ”She couldn’t get out of her house.”
Erdem owns and operates a popular Southampton restaurant, 75 Main, that Trump and other big names—such as Joe and Jill Biden—frequented on trips to the Hamptons.
When Erdem insisted Trump visit a doctor, he says the former model responded: “No, I hate going to doctors. I get more sick going to doctors.”
The 42-year-old restaurateur said Trump had planned a trip to his restaurant two weeks ago but couldn’t make it out of her home. She then told Erdem, whom she first met nearly 15 years ago when he was still a busboy at a restaurant in Manhattan, that she’d visit him after her trip to St. Tropez in France, which was slated to begin Friday.
“She called last week and said, ‘I can’t wait to see you,’’ he told the paper.
Trump was spotted out and about the night before she was found dead. The Daily Mail reported she dined at her “favorite Italian” restaurant, Altesi's—located just a few blocks from her home—and was “in good spirits,” the eatery’s owner said.
While her attitude was bright, Aletesi's owner Paola Alavian said the Czech-American looked “maybe a little bit tired” and ordered a “very, very small amount of food.”
Alavian couldn’t be reached for comment on Friday, but a separate family source told the Daily Mail that Trump’s health “had been declining for some time.”
Cops say Trump went into cardiac arrest before falling down a flight of stairs in her four-story townhouse on the Upper East Side. A staff member discovered her body when she arrived for work and called 911.
Trump leaves behind three children—Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric—all of which she had with Donald while married to the former president between 1977 and 1992. She also had 10 grandkids.
In a statement to The Daily Beast on Thursday, the Trump family called Ivana “an incredible woman—a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend.”
