Aching reminders of her son's death have come steadily, Regina Mullen said Sunday.
Kyle Mullen, who died Feb. 4 after completing the grueling first phase of U.S. Navy SEAL training called “Hell Week,” was supposed to be the best man at his brother TJ's June wedding. A photo of Kyle was set up at the ceremony instead.
A street was dedicated to the 24-year-old in Manalapan at the start of the month. Fitting, his mother Regina said, as he was devoted to his community.
And last Saturday, Regina — a nurse who lives in the township — opened her mail to find an Armed Forces Medical Examiner autopsy report, stating that her son died as a result of pneumonia during the training at Naval Base Coronado in California.
“(Kyle) had completed Hell Week and was being looked after by non-medical personnel to help him tend to his basic needs,” reads a copy of the autopsy report provided to NJ Advance Media by Mullen's mother. “He was in a wheelchair most of the time, unable to stand and walk on his own. He had reportedly been coughing/spitting up red-tinged fluid which had nearly filled a 36 oz. sports drink bottle.”
Kyle died of “acute pneumonia due to Streptococcus pyogenes,” according to the May 2 report written by U.S. Army Regional Medical Examiner Wendy Warren. Streptococcus pyogenes is “a major human-specific bacterial pathogen” that can be mild or life-threatening depending on the case,…
