The man was taking part in a pie eating competition (stock photo) (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
A man tragically collapsed to death after uttering three awkward last words during a pie-eating contest.
Bruce Holland, 64, was one of eight contestants who took part in the Queensland pub competition during a State of Origin rugby league match in 2013.
Bruce fainted while eating chilli pie and was taken to Townsville Hospital, where he died at around 10:30 in July 2013.
According to the Townsville Bulletin, his last words, spoken at the Bushland Beach Tavern in Townsville, were, “Lord, this chilli pie is hot”.
According to the report, Arthur McMahon, a representative of the tavern’s owner Lilywhite Hotel Group, revealed that Bruce had been a familiar face and regular patron at the pub for more than three years. The Daily Star.
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Contestant Ian Coulton celebrates after winning the World Pie Eating Contest (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
He said: “Today was a very sad day because he was a very respected man there,” Arthur said. “Whenever he was there, he always had a lot of mates and friends.”
Arthur said the pub had been anxiously awaiting the competition before the tragedy. “It was half time during the game and we had the big screen in the background and everyone was having a great time,” he said.
Arthur said that the 64-year-old man had eaten only a few mouthfuls when he started suffocating. “He started panting and sat down with a glass of water and then passed out,” Arthur said.
“There were seven other people in the competition and the meat wasn’t too hot,” he said. “It’s one of those tragedies that just happens – it was very difficult for us to know if it was something that could have been avoided.”
Arthur Beech was a local resident of the neighboring suburb of Holm.
Many years ago, a surprisingly similar tragedy was revealed in a radio program. Twenty-eight-year-old Jennifer Strange entered a contest on KDND-FM 107.9’s Morning Rave show in an attempt to win a Nintendo Wii for her three children.
The ‘Hold Your Pee for the Wii’ segment had contestants drink as much water as possible without going to the bathroom, with a Wii console as the prize.
Jennifer was one of 18 contestants who began drinking from a 240 ml water bottle every 15 minutes at 6:45 a.m. in a room at KDND’s studios in Sacramento, California – with the amount of water increasing as the remaining contestants progressed.
“I have a headache. They keep telling me it’s the water… It’s going to make my head hurt and it’s going to make me throw up,” she could be heard telling one of the program’s hosts on air, to which he jokingly added, “Who told you that, intern?”
The DJ later joked that the mother of three’s swollen belly “looked pregnant,” adding, “It’s so funny.”
Jennifer reportedly drank 7.6 liters of water and finished second, before calling a colleague to tell her she was in a lot of pain and would not be coming in the morning.
His mother found him dead inside their home just an hour later. The Morning Rave program was immediately shut down following Jennifer’s death and the station was ordered to pay $16.5 million to her family in a wrongful death lawsuit. No criminal charges were filed in connection with the incident.
