Man dies after taco-eating contest? Why is this still a practice?
A California man tragically died this week while participating in a taco-eating contest at a minor league baseball game.
Dana Hutchings died moments after arrival at a hospital on Tuesday night.
The fatal incident occurred at Chukchansi Park in Fresno. This is while the Fresno Grizzlies, who hold the amateur contest, were playing against the Memphis Redbirds.
Hutchings, 41, was chowing down on the Mexican food when he suddenly starts to choke and caught the attention of medical assistance.
“The Fresno Grizzlies held a taco eating contest during its game Tuesday night,” Botti tells PEOPLE. “One of the participants, 41-year-old Dana Hutchings of Fresno, began to choke while eating tacos.”
“Members of the Grizzlies medical staff immediately began to give him first aid,” Botti adds.
They then transport Hutchings to the Community Regional Medical Center. Botti says he arrived just before 8 p.m., when medical staff “began pulling out food to clear his airway.”
Their attempts, however, were unfortunately unsuccessful as Hutchings was pronounced dead by 8:24 p.m.
His cause of death was not yet ditermind.
“We are not ruling a cause of death yet, but we have an idea,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.
A statement was released by Grizzlies team president Derek Frank in light of Hutchins’ death:
“We are devastated to learn that the fan that received medical attention following an event at Tuesday evening’s game has passed away. The Fresno Grizzlies extend our heartfelt prayers and condolences to the family of Mr. Hutchings. The safety and security of our fans is our highest priority.”
The team has also canceled the World Taco Eating Championship due to the circumstances surrounding Hutchins’ death.
This is so incredibly sad, and food eating contests in general are very dangerous. I applaud them for their decision to cancel the eating contest as a whole.
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