• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Contestant on "Wipeout" dies after completing obstacle course

MinusTydus

MinusTydus

The Fallen
Jul 28, 2018
8,198
If you've ever watched the show, you knew this was coming eventually. RIP.

www.tmz.com

'Wipeout' Contestant Dies in Hospital After Completing Obstacle Course

'Wipeout' contestant dies after being hospitalized following completion of the obstacle course.
www.tmz.com www.tmz.com

A "Wipeout" contestant is dead after being hospitalized following a go at the obstacle course ... TMZ has learned.

Production sources tell TMZ ... a male contestant needed medical attention Wednesday after completing the course, and he was tended to by on-site emergency personnel who then called paramedics.

We're told the contestant was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

'Wipeout' is getting an upcoming reboot on TBS after originally airing on ABC from 2008 to 2014, and TBS tells us ... "We are devastated to have learned of his passing and our deepest sympathy goes out to the family."

More at the link.
 
Kingpin Rogers

Kingpin Rogers

HILF
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,459
I'm sure it wasn't the show's fault. Or more, it was the producer or whoevers fault for letting someone who clearly shouldn't have done something like Wipeout, do Wipeout.
 
Aurongel

Aurongel

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
7,065
This is... Exceptionally vague and devoid of causative details.
 
Ultron

Ultron

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
2,769
MinusTydus said:
If you've ever watched the show, you knew this was coming eventually. RIP.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Don't really agree with this premise.

"Our law enforcement sources tell us they got a cardiac arrest call just before noon Wednesday, and medics on set had already started using a defibrillator on the contestant, who was experiencing chest pains after completing the course."

This doesn't sound like someone took a bad fall and died from a crazy obstacle. It just sounds like someone with some underlying issue exerted themselves and it caused something.
 
Alrus

Alrus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
860
Belgium
Why was it bound to happen? From the article the constant died from cardiac arrest. Could have happened with any show involving physical activities.
 
bionic77

bionic77

Member
Oct 25, 2017
30,894
Aurongel said:
This is... Exceptionally vague and devoid of causative details.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Totally speculation but if it was from a fall it was mostly likely a bad injury to the head. Less likely to the spine.

Cardiac arrest or some other condition seems most likely.

Still horrible though no matter what it was.

RIP
 
Cantaim

Cantaim

Member
Oct 25, 2017
33,349
The Stussining
Kingpin Rogers said:
I'm sure it wasn't the show's fault. Or more, it was the producer or whoevers fault for letting someone who clearly shouldn't have done something like Wipeout, do Wipeout.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It's this it has to be. Absolutely nobody working on wipeout wanted to make something that could kill people. Somebody involved in casting must have made a bad mistake and let someone who absolutely should not have done something as strenuous as Wipeout onto the show.
 
Feep

Feep

Lead Designer, Iridium Studios
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
4,602
So I appeared on Wipeout in 2011. My condolences to the bereaved.

You need to sign a remarkably thick stack of papers to compete, acknowledging that it is a physical obstacle course and therefore at least some baseline level of dangerous, and that you have no known medical history of things like heart failure, respiratory illness, etc. In addition, a full medical examination in administered...they tested things like lung capacity and so on.

The producers were very safety conscious, at least back then. I doubt it was anything but a tragic event from someone whose heart just chose that moment to give out. :(
 
CallMeShaft

CallMeShaft

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
3,361
Sad that it happened, but if it's cardiac arrest, it's hardly the show's fault unless they knew he had heart problems, which I highly doubt. Feel bad for the family, though.

I am kinda happy to see Wipeout back, though. A real enjoyable show. Just a shame I found out about it's revival in a story like this.
 
Trouble

Trouble

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,142
Seattle-ish
Cantaim said:
It's this it has to be. Absolutely nobody working on wipeout wanted to make something that could kill people. Somebody involved in casting must have made a bad mistake and let someone who absolutely should not have done something as strenuous as Wipeout onto the show.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Sometimes people just have undiagnosed issues. A friend of mine from high school was sent for a cardiac stress test at age 22 and had a heart attack on the treadmill during the test. These were actual doctors that put him in a situation that caused a heart attack. Sometimes no one can see these things coming.

Anyways, my point is not to be too quick to blame this on someone fucking up. Sometimes tragic shit just happens.
 
Joni

Joni

Member
Oct 27, 2017
19,508
Cantaim said:
It's this it has to be. Absolutely nobody working on wipeout wanted to make something that could kill people. Somebody involved in casting must have made a bad mistake and let someone who absolutely should not have done something as strenuous as Wipeout onto the show.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
We have seen young professional athletes fall dead on the middle of a pitch with heart attacks. Some people are just dealt a bad deal, and there is no real indication there is something wrong with their heart until they drop dead. Could even have been someone fit with an unnoticed Covid/flu/whatever small infection that hit his heart.
 
Dice

Dice

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,321
Canada
Trouble said:
Sometimes people just have undiagnosed issues. A friend of mine from high school was sent for a cardiac stress test at age 22 and had a heart attack on the treadmill during the test. These were actual doctors that put him in a situation that caused a heart attack. Sometimes no one can see these things coming.

Anyways, my point is not to be too quick to blame this on someone fucking up. Sometimes tragic shit just happens.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Very true. For now this seems like a tragic accident.
 
Kinthey

Kinthey

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
22,320
Considering they say that he completed the course it doesn't sound to me like one of the obstacles caused it.
 
Godfather

Godfather

Game on motherfuckers
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
3,492
Must have been a pretty bad heart attack if he died despite receiving immediate professional assistance. This could have happened in far worse circumstances for the person.
 
23qwerty

23qwerty

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,500
This happened back during the original run too didn't it? Pretty sure you can see the guy in the episode sometimes though they cut him out as much as possible?
 
Citizencope

Citizencope

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,211
Feep said:
So I appeared on Wipeout in 2011. My condolences to the bereaved.

You need to sign a remarkably thick stack of papers to compete, acknowledging that it is a physical obstacle course and therefore at least some baseline level of dangerous, and that you have no known medical history of things like heart failure, respiratory illness, etc. In addition, a full medical examination in administered...they tested things like lung capacity and so on.

The producers were very safety conscious, at least back then. I doubt it was anything but a tragic event from someone whose heart just chose that moment to give out. :(
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I remember this.
I thought I remember some obstacles that contestants didn't wear helmets on. I couldn't believe it.
 
Shang

Shang

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,660
23qwerty said:
This happened back during the original run too didn't it? Pretty sure you can see the guy in the episode sometimes though they cut him out as much as possible?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yup, in 2009, very early in the original ABC run: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/wipeout-contestant-dies-91290

Tom Sparks, 33, was participating in the first segment of an obstacle course Oct. 19 when he complained of knee pain, according to Endemol, the company which produces "Wipeout" for ABC.

Producers had him stop, Endemol said Thursday. On-set medics examined Sparks, noticed he was short of breath and took him to a local hospital.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It turned out that he had a stroke due to a rare, undiagnosed condition that required specialized blood tests to diagnose. It wouldn't surprise me if something similar happened in this situation. Very sad and tragic.
 
smurfx

smurfx

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,578
person probably had some undiagnosed health problems that presented themselves at the end. i don't think its plausible to give everybody that competes in the show a full physical before the show. also this person completed the course so they weren't "wiped out" by any of the courses and suffered some huge blow to head or anything like that.
 
Tawpgun

Tawpgun

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,861
Ultron said:
Don't really agree with this premise.

"Our law enforcement sources tell us they got a cardiac arrest call just before noon Wednesday, and medics on set had already started using a defibrillator on the contestant, who was experiencing chest pains after completing the course."

This doesn't sound like someone took a bad fall and died from a crazy obstacle. It just sounds like someone with some underlying issue exerted themselves and it caused something.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yep.

Even a fall death wouldn't necesarily be the obstace course being "unsafe" fault. The human body is both resilient and fragile.

People have survived falling from planes with no parachutes

People have died tripping and falling over their own feet
 
You must log in or register to reply here.