Charlbi Dean, the 32-year-old South African model and actress most recently known for starring in Ruben Östlund’s film Triangle of Sadness, died from bacterial sepsis, a spokesperson for the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner told People. Dean died in August, and though she was known to have died from an illness, the specific cause of death was not confirmed. The sepsis “was a complication from asplenia (the absence of a spleen) due to ‘remote blunt trauma to her torso.’†In 2009, at age 18, Dean was in a near-fatal car accident, according to the South African Sunday Times. The crash resulted in two damaged vertebrae; a broken wrist, elbow, and four ribs; as well as internal injuries like a collapsed left lung. Her spleen was removed following the accident. Her sepsis was caused by the bacteria Capnocytophaga, which typically resides in the mouths of animals such as dogs and cats as well as people, according to the CDC. While rare, contact with Capnocytophaga can be dangerous, especially in the absence of a spleen, an important part of the immune system. When Dean died in August, her brother, Alex Jacobs, speculated that the spleen removal affected her death. “They removed her spleen. It’s involved in fighting off infections, and that could have had something to do with what happened,†he told Rolling Stone. “Her spleen not being there just added on to the reason why she perhaps couldn’t fight it off.
“She was extremely caring and extremely loving, more than anyone I could have ever known,†Jacobs said, remembering his sister. “She reminded us every day how much she loved us.â€