Miami, FL – 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.
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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.
The medical examiner’s office said Tuesday it has sent samples of Archbold’s remains for testing, but results are not expected for another week or two.
“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.
The grand prize has been put aside in Archbold’s name and will be given to his estate, Siegel told the AP.
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.”
Omg crazy contest! But nevertheless, let them come to my house eat up all these huge roaches.
What I want to know is did the roaches die?
Ekeldig, and not fit for VIN or for its readers.
whats the point of this “news item on vin? We cant eat that stuff anyway. Nausiating.
he can come to my house and eat as many cockroachs as he wants.
Unorthodox… thats for sure
This sounds like something out of the movie Creepshow.
Why is this meshugas legal and driving without a seatbelt not?
Leave roach-eating to the professionals. Dozens of hungry frogs, geckos and birds could have had a good meal out of what he ate as a stunt 🙂
I do wonder what happened. It could have been an allergy. It could have been a coincidence. Maybe sharp pieces of chitin penetrated his stomach although that doesn’t seem likely. This is why there are autopsies.
Tippish.
“not fit for vin readers” ? Nausiating (Sp?). Perhaps a little secular education in spelling would be a better for “fit for vin readers”. Get off your high horse.
If he didn’t die from the roaches he would have died from the python.
Just got back from shachris, eating cereal – and then I saw the roach story – oy vey I lost my appetite!
How disgusting!
Interesting, where is PETA now? No Rachmanus here? Only for the kaporos?
Did it not occur to anyone that maybe he swallowed a cockroach?
I think if i swallowed a cockroach, i would also die!!!
He eat the bugs, now its pay back time, the bugs will eat him now, one differents, he was eating them alive, and they eat him dead, pity him to die so ugly.
Probably caught a bug…..
There are plenty of individuals who improve human race simply by removing themselves from it. This idiot is definitely one of them. Kein yirbu.
Perhaps if Reb Ben Siegel had been in shul on Friday nite, this nebech would still be amongst the living.
Clearly the niftar died of ANAPHYLACTIC SHOCK. You read it here on VIN first!
Roaches were created on the fifth day of creation the human on the sixth. If you don’t act human then the roach will overtake you. (Meforshei Hatalmud )
This is nauseating! Even if roaches were kosher,I wouldn’t do this for a billion dollars, for sure not for a python!