It was leukemia
Cause of Peralta’s sudden death revealed
State Sen. Jose Peralta, who was rushed to a hospital and died unexpectedly a day before the Thanksgiving holiday, died from complications of leukemia, the city’s medical examiner’s office said Tuesday.
Peralta, 47, the first Dominican-American elected to the state Senate, died at a hospital in Queens, where he represented a diverse community.
Family members initially believed he died from an infection that threw his body into septic shock.
But a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office said Peralta’s official cause of death was “complications of acute promyelocytic leukemia.”
The family made no mention of leukemia around the time of his death Nov. 21.
The medical examiner’s office said at the time that more tests were needed to determine an exact cause.
Medical sites defined acute promyelocytic leukemia as a cancer of the white blood cells.
According to his widow, Evelyn, Peralta had complained of shortness of breath and pressure to his head before developing a fever.
Peralta was the father of two sons, Matthew, 21, and Myles, 13.
A family spokesman, Chris Sosa, said Peralta and the family were unaware that he had the disease.
The disease hadn’t been detected during Peralta’s regular physical in June, and it wasn’t suspected when he went to a doctor a day or so before his death, Sosa told WPIX-TV.
“It’s very startling, and I think it’s a good reminder to anyone who’s feeling ill” to seek medical attention, Sosa said.
Peralta had served as the state senator for New York’s 13th District since 2010, representing a section of Queens that includes Jackson Heights and Corona. He had previously served in the Assembly for eight years.
Although he was still serving as a state senator, Peralta had been defeated weeks earlier in an election primary by Jessica Ramos, who then cruised to victory in the general election.
Peralta had been targeted by angry Democrats in his own party for his membership in the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference that had aligned in a leadership coalition with Senate Republicans.
Tributes poured in after Peralta’s death, and Gov. Cuomo ordered state flags flown at half-staff.