It is well accepted that Crohn's disease is associated with a small but real risk of death. Population based reports from Sweden,1,2 Denmark,3 and Italy4 indicate that Crohn's disease patients have a higher mortality rate than expected, although at least one notable exception from the UK demonstrated survival similar to the general population (table 1 1).
As for some other comments - until you’re very old, I think the statistics are that you’re much more likely to die from a surgery that tries to better manage your Crohns than of anything Crohns can cause.
Sometimes the surgeries can go very badly very quickly for no rhyme or reason & lead to bowel rupture which is very not good. Not that this is common - just more common than “dying” of Crohns.
I'm otherwise young-ish and healthy, and didn't know I had Crohn's before this happened, though I've had intermittent digestive issues that I thought "weren't a big deal" through most of my adulthood. I can only imagine someone who already knew they had Crohn's had it worse than myself.
Also, the article says he died from complications from Crohn's.
Sorry, what does that actually mean?