Bernadette Hernandez was 55 and an emigree from the Philippines who learned to dance hula.

Aneurysms can strike at any age, any ethnicity, without warning?

Yes but it's not really a disease of the old.  It very often afflicts the young(ish) and fit and female -- and I believe the fatality rate is higher in young(ish) fit people -- people who seem to be doing everything right when it comes to their health.  When you hear about a young fit type-A woman dropping dead suddenly, there aren't too many things it can be.

Yeah, it does strike me that most people who die of an aneurysm are athletic.

Is it considered a disease or just something that happens?

Just something that happens. It's more or less impossible to predict or screen for -- as one of my doctors told my mom, "Well her blood pressure is high but there are 50 million people with higher blood pressure who won't have aneurysms" -- and honestly they seem to know very little about how it develops. Treatment is largely in the hands of surgeons, who are... not research minded, if you know what I mean.

I do. Are there any research foundations studying aneurysms or just stroke.org ?