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Man Dies After Live Roach-Eating Contest in Fla

strikerratt

strikerratt

New member
The winner of a roach-eating contest in South Florida died shortly after downing dozens of the live bugs as well as worms, authorities said Monday.

About 30 contestants ate the insects during Friday night's contest at Ben Siegel Reptile Store in Deerfield Beach about 40 miles north of Miami. The grand prize was a python.

Edward Archbold, 32, of West Palm Beach became ill shortly after the contest ended and collapsed in front of the store, according to a Broward Sheriff's Office statement released Monday. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities were waiting for results of an autopsy to determine a cause of death.

"Unless the roaches were contaminated with some bacteria or other pathogens, I don't think that cockroaches would be unsafe to eat," said Michael Adams, professor of entomology at the University of California at Riverside, who added that he has never heard of someone dying after consuming roaches. "Some people do have allergies to roaches," he said, "but there are no toxins in roaches or related insects."

None of the other contestants became ill, the sheriff's office said.

There was no updated phone number listed for Archbold in West Palm Beach.

"We feel terribly awful," said store owner Ben Siegel, who added that Archbold did not appear to be sick before the contest. "He looked like he just wanted to show off and was very nice," Siegel said, adding that Archbold was "the life of the party."

Siegel said Archbold was selling the exotic prize to a friend who took him to the contest.

A statement from Siegel's attorney said all the participants signed waivers "accepting responsibility for their participation in this unique and unorthodox contest."

The bugs consumed were from an inventory of insects "that are safely and domestically raised in a controlled environment as food for reptiles."
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/man-dies-live-roach-eating-contest-fla-17427538#.UHOkP1Gz66R
 
this is from Ben Siegel Reptiles facebook page
We are all very sad at Ben Siegel reptiles about the passing of Eddie Barry (Archbold) We just met him the night of our sale but all liked him very much. He was outgoing and was fun and got the crowd very worked up and excited. We are sorry we will not get to know him better. We will keep everyone updated as we can. Please try to be respectful of Eddie's family as I am sure this is a very diffi
cult time for them as well as everyone involved. Here is a release from our attorney.

My firm has been retained to represent Ben Siegel and his business as it relates to the tragic death of Eddie Archbold, apparently also known as Eddie Barry to some. This matter is still under investigation, so I have instructed Mr. Siegel and his staff to refrain from making any comments to the media or anyone else other than law enforcement. Some facts that have come out include the fact that all participants in the contest were entirely aware of what they were doing and that they signed thorough waivers accepting responsibility for their participation in this unique and unorthodox contest. The consumption of insects is widely accepted throughout the world, and the insects presented as part of the contest were taken from an inventory of insects that are safely and domestically raised in a controlled environment as food for reptiles. Once Mr. Archbold showed signs of distress, his companion represented that he had summoned emergency personnel and was going to immediately take him to the hospital. Moments later, Mr.Siegel made an independent call to 911 and Mr. Archbold was administered CPR. Mr. Siegel and his staff did all that anyone could to try and help Mr. Archbold, and they send out their deepest sympathy to the family. Any additional questions can be directed to my office.

Luke Lirot, Esq.
LAW OFFICES OF LUKE LIROT, P.A.
Florida Bar No. 714836
2240 Belleair Road., Suite 190
Clearwater, FL 33764
 
It's bloody shame this happened. Had to be a total freak accident. I feel so bad for Eddie's family and Ben's family/staff. This was beyond tragic.
 
Sounds like a terrible accident, but simply a terrible coincidence. Perhaps he's one of the few people allergic to roaches and didn't know it. My heart goes out to his family and friends.
 
I wonder if it was a shellfish allergy. I remember years back someone went into shock on that reality TV show after eating roaches, and nearly died. Turned out anyone who is allergic to lobster is allergic to roaches.
 
I believe allergy or unknown medical condition is the speculation right now. There is no way a healthy person should have died from eating roaches. The roaches used for the contest were grown in a clean environment specifically to be consumed by people. To my knowledge that whole colony was kept separate from others.
 
elrojo said:
I wonder if it was a shellfish allergy. I remember years back someone went into shock on that reality TV show after eating roaches, and nearly died. Turned out anyone who is allergic to lobster is allergic to roaches.
Click to expand...

They are both in phylum Arthropoda but inside the phyla they are not that closely related. Nevertheless, it may be possible.
 
Just FYI, this is from Chris Ivins from the South Florida Herp Society and Everglades Herp Society:


"I was there and watched it all go down, what the media is reporting is far from the truth, more will come out today. The news is reporting that he simply walked out of the store and collapsed, that is not true at all. He was vomiting and was asked a dozen times if he was ok, every time his response was laughter. He asked Andy and I go find his buddy that he drove there with so he could go home. At that point he got in the truck. And we thought they went home. It was not until about an hr later we heard a scream and all rushed about 5 stores to the west to see what happened. He was laying on the ground not breathing and his friend was just leaning on the car watching him die. He did not even call 911. We frantically preformed CPR until the ambulance got there. The friend did lie to us and say he called 911 but they said the first call was Matt. He drowned in his own vomit and his tongue was swollen. After the ambulance took him away his friend had the balls to ask for the ivory ball that his almost dead friend had won. He said that if Eddie won he was going to pay him 150 for the snake."
Click to expand...
 
Wow, the plot thickens.. This is a horrible freak occurrence, please keep us posted. I feel for his family & for those involved.
 
I believe I read somewhere (Ben Siegal's FB, I think?) that it was not the first time Eddie had eaten roaches before and he was fine the first time. I'll see if I can dig up that quote. It was a horrible tragedy, on what was supposed to have been a night of fun. My condolences to Eddie's family as well as Ben and his staff. :(
 
BloodyBaroness said:
Just FYI, this is from Chris Ivins from the South Florida Herp Society and Everglades Herp Society:
Click to expand...

I hope that "friend" knows how to hide. I smell something "negligent".

On that note, does anyone know the name of that scumbag of an individual so he can be put on a comprehensive "Do Not Sell/Buy" list?
 
Thats sad .iI feel for his family ....i had volenteered to eat the roaches but they had to be dead.. and they told me alive so i wimped out. And i have ben as a friend on face book . And he did say it had happened a little while after. And he didnt know what had happened.
 
I definitely think something is wrong with the friend. Especially if he knew he was going to get the prize snake. But that extra information from someone who was there helps a lot. And of course the media only reports what they think they heard is the truth. Smh
 
DragonsDenSerpents said:
I believe I read somewhere (Ben Siegal's FB, I think?) that it was not the first time Eddie had eaten roaches before and he was fine the first time. I'll see if I can dig up that quote. It was a horrible tragedy, on what was supposed to have been a night of fun. My condolences to Eddie's family as well as Ben and his staff. :(
Click to expand...

Just a thought...
Allergies take 2 exposures to trigger an "allergic reaction" the first ime the body dosent know what to do with the exposure so it does nothing outwardly (but preps antibodies and such for a second exposure) the second time is when outward signs of a reaction will show, things such as hives swelling, nausea, vomiting, wheezes, all those sort of things. But to me this dosent fit the bill of a typical allergic reaction, at least one that would typically cause death(USUALLy symptoms have a much quicker onset) . But nausea and vomiting are also some signs of a allergic reaction.

Basically if this was his second time to ever eat roaches it could be possible(in my head), but if its the third or greater then its much less likely to have a first onset of serious allergic reaction.

Not sure what any of this means, and i could be TOTALLY wrong, but thats just my thoughts on the issue.

Once an autopsy is done only then will we have any real answers.
 
Just thought I'd follow up with the autopsy results:

Fox News-

Autopsy reveals Florida man choked to death after roach eating contest

Published November 26, 2012
Associated Press

MIAMI – An autopsy has concluded that a Florida man choked to death after downing dozens of live roaches during a contest earlier this year.
The report released Monday says 32-year-old Edward Archbold of West Palm Beach died as a result of "asphyxia due to choking and aspiration of gastric contents."
Lab tests for drugs came back negative. The death has been ruled an accident.
Archbold died after downing the bugs as well as worms in October for the contest at Ben Siegel Reptile Store in Deerfield Beach, about 40 miles north of Miami. The grand prize was a python.
Archbold became ill shortly after and collapsed in front of the store. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Authorities said none of the other contestants became ill.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/2...ath-after-roach-eating-contest/#ixzz2DhS1ifUg
 
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