Two American bodybuilders died five days apart for different reasons. On Friday, Aug. 25, 46-year-old bodybuilder Rich Piana died after being in a coma for more than two weeks. Five days earlier, on Monday night, Aug. 22, 26-year-old Dallas McCarver died after he reportedly choked on food.
Piana collapsed on Aug. 7 while getting a haircut. He was placed in a medically induced coma for almost three weeks after his collapse in his Florida apartment, The New York Daily News reported. Chanel Jansen, his girlfriend, tried to revive the bodybuilder but failed, so she rushed him to a nearby hospital.
Bottles of steroids
Piana’s apartment had more than 20 bottles of steroids and white powder, TMZ reported. Over the years, Piana competed in several bodybuilding competitions. His titles include Mr. California. The Instagram personality has more than 1 million followers.
The District Six Medical Examiner confirmed that Piana died at the hospital on Friday, but the cause of his death is still unknown. In a 2014 YouTube post, Piana admitted to using Steroids for more than 30 years. “If you want to become a professional bodybuilder, guess what – you’re probably gonna had to f***in’ do ‘em … You’re not going to have a choice,” The New York Daily News quoted Piana. It is, however, unclear if the steroids played a role in his death.
According to People, he started using steroids when he was 18. Piana tried “test and deca,” a practice that mixed testosterone with deca durabolin, an anabolic steroid, for bulking up. In eight weeks, he ballooned to 200 pounds from 185 pounds. Piana competed in a show and took first place and won the overall. He was bench-pressing 315 pounds when he graduated from his school, but after using steroids, he went up to 405 pounds.
Choked on food
Meanwhile, McCarver reportedly choked on food. Dana Brooke, the girlfriend of McCarver and a WWE superstar, said he was found unconscious on Monday night at his house by a friend after Brooke spoke with him on the phone. McCarver told Brooke he was preparing dinner and told her toward the end of the phone call, “I love you.
Goodbye.
According to Brooke, there was no sign of foul play or McCarver took his own life, The New York Daily News reported. In early 2017, he had a health scare when he collapsed on stage at the 2017 Arnold Classic. McCarver, however, eventually shared videos of himself where he appeared to have recovered.
The 6’1” bodybuilder, who weighed more than 300 pounds, finished eighth in the Mr. Olympia competition in 2016. He was known as “Big Country.” McCarver worked out in early Monday and was seen exercising with a chest press with 160-pound dumbbells.
