New Zealand rugby player Kathleen "Kath" Wharton's cause of death has reportedly been revealed nine months after the mom of four was found unresponsive in a McDonald's parking lot. Wharton died at 41 years old from sudden cardiac arrest while she was taking a nap in an Auckland, New Zealand, McDonald's parking lot "after a long-haul flight from a rugby tournament in Japan" on November 21, 2024, the New Zealand Herald reported on Saturday, August 23, citing associate coroner Hannah Cheeseman's findings. The associate coroner also found that Wharton had COVID-19 at the time of her death.