Pulmonologist Testifies That George Floyd Died From a Low Level of Oxygen

As the trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd continues, experts continue to testify about the events of that tragic day. A medical expert testified that Floyd died from a lack of oxygen after he was pinned on his stomach with Chauvin’s foot on his neck.

Dr. Martin Tobin, a lung and critical care specialist at the Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital and Loyola University’s medical school in Chicago said that Floyd was unable to take proper breaths, which didn’t allow enough oxygen to reach his heart or brain. “This caused damage to his brain that we see, and it also caused a PEA arrhythmia that caused his heart to stop,” Dr. Martin Tobin said. “The cause of the low level of oxygen was shallow breathing. Small breaths. Small tidal volumes. Shallow breaths that weren’t able to carry the air through his lungs down to the essential areas of the lungs that get oxygen into the blood and get rid of the carbon dioxide.

In his testimony, the doctor pinpointed still images from the body-cam footage that depicted Floyd pressing his knuckles against the police car’s tire, pressing his knuckles against the ground, lifting his right shoulder and digging his face into the ground. Tobin said these images showed that Floyd was desperately trying to breathe.

“It’s a very poor way of breathing. But it’s what you have to do when everything else is failing,” he added.