Rachel Hagan
Ivana Trump seemed fatigued and did not order her usual amount of food at her favourite restaurant just hours before being found dead at the bottom of a staircase, it has been revealed.
The 73-year-old was discovered inside her Manhattan home at around 12.40pm after someone called 911 to report a person, believed to be Ms Trump, suffering from cardiac arrest.
The ex-wife of former US President Donald Trump visited her favourite restaurant, Altesi Ristorante, the day before she died and its owner said that while Ms Trump appeared in good spirits, she was also more fatigued than usual.
“I am very saddened to inform all of those that loved her, of which there are many, that Ivana Trump has passed away at her home in New York City,” Donald Trump said in a post on the social medial platform Truth Social.
Despite the Trump family statement and the post from the former president not mentioning the cause of her tragic death, a New York police spokesperson said she was found dead on the stairs inside her apartment but it was not under suspicious circumstances.
Altesi Restaurant’s owner Paola Alavian told the Sun that he knew her very well and saw her almost every day.
“Her health seemed normal, she looked maybe a little bit tired, but she otherwise seemed okay”, he said about the visit before her death.
Alavian said he couldn’t remember what Ivana ordered but said it was a “very, very small amount of food.” Adding that he was in a deep state of shock.
According to unnamed law enforcement officials, Ms Trump’s death appeared accidental and she may have fallen down the stairs, the New York Times Reports.
It is believed she died from a suspected heart attack but this is yet to be confirmed. However, the Fire Department of New York said paramedics responded to a call to her apartment for a cardiac arrest.
“Our mother was an incredible woman — a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend,” a statement from the Trump family read.
It continued: “Ivana Trump was a survivor. She fled from communism and embraced this country. She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination.”
Born Ivana Marie Zelníčkováin in former Czechoslovakia, she lived under communist rule before moving to Canada in the 1970s, where she briefly worked as a model.
