MIRAMAR, Fla. The 911 call capturing fitness influencer Liam Fitzgerald’s final moments was placed by a stranger, on Fitzgerald’s own phone. The motorist spotted the motorcycle in the grass between Flamingo Road and Red Road in Miramar, Florida, around 2 in the morning on October 30, and found the 29-year-old creator lying motionless beside it. He pulled over, told the dispatcher the rider still appeared to be breathing, and begged for help. TMZ obtained and published the call on Wednesday.
“I’m glad I saw him,” the man told the dispatcher, according to audio obtained by TMZ. “Please, please be quick.” He reported that Fitzgerald appeared to have struck a traffic sign, which was bent, and he stayed at the rider’s side until a police officer arrived. Police told TMZ in an earlier dispatch report that no witnesses to the actual crash have come forward. The investigation remains open.
The Broward County Office of Medical Examiner and Trauma Services listed blunt force injuries as the cause and ruled the death an accident, a spokesperson confirmed to People on November 4. His girlfriend, fellow fitness influencer Jamie Lyn Rinaldi, announced his death on October 31 and later shared that he had undergone surgery after the crash. “There are no words to describe the heartbreak of this loss,” she wrote on Instagram. Hypefresh reported his passing earlier this week.
Fitzgerald had built an audience of more than a million Instagram followers on posts about training, style, and money, and he worked as a personal trainer offering one-on-one coaching. He also modeled and boxed. Born in Evansville, Wisconsin, he spent much of his childhood in Washington state, moved to Arizona at 18, and settled in Miami at 24, according to the New York Post. In April he marked the purchase of his first home in Miami Shores. His death follows other losses in the fitness creator community, including fitness influencer Mara Flavia, who died at 38 during Ironman Texas, and bodybuilder Mailson Araujo, who died at 35 hours after his final gym post.
The BMW racing model he purchased in December 2025 became a regular fixture of his feed. One video from January 31 showed him weaving through traffic and touching other vehicles, behavior Miami New Times described as reckless riding. Followers had left comments under his riding posts warning about the dangers, the New York Post reported. Authorities have not said what sent the motorcycle off the road.
His family shared a longer tribute on his Instagram account on November 1, signed by relatives Penny, Natalie, Dermot, and Bethany along with Rinaldi. “Liam’s work ethic was incredible,” the family wrote. “He loved filming, creating, and editing videos to share his experiences and inspire others.” The statement also disclosed that he had battled alcohol on and off and knew it was hurting him, a detail People reported. “This is shared in the hope that his story reaches someone who needs it,” the family wrote. “If you’re fighting that battle, please stay strong, reach out to your loved ones, and ask for help. You don’t have to fight alone. Keep going.”
Fitzgerald had opened up on his own YouTube channel about alcohol and the darkest stretch of his life. Officials have not said whether alcohol played any role in the crash.
Rinaldi, 30, told followers in a November 1 Instagram story that she and Fitzgerald had reconnected after she returned to Florida. “He apologized, wanted to make things right, and showed me every single day that he was willing to put in the effort to change,” she wrote, in words E! News quoted. “Just a few days ago, we officially decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend again.” She said they kept the relationship off social media and asked followers for grace instead of judgment or speculation.
“Hearing the trauma surgeon tell me you didn’t make it was the most painful moment of my entire life,” Rinaldi wrote in a separate post. His family ended their tribute with a simpler ask. “Hug your people tighter, tell them you love them, forgive when you can, and never assume you have more time.”
The state has logged the nation’s most motorcyclist deaths for three straight years, and Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles counts show nearly 600 riders killed each year from 2022 through 2024. For anyone in crisis or wrestling with alcohol, free and confidential support is available by calling or texting 988, and the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline offers resources online.
