A 32-year-old Florida man died after downing dozens of roaches and worms to win an $850 python in a roach-eating contest at a Florida reptile store.
Edward Archbold collapsed outside the store minutes after winning the roach-eating contest and was taken to Broward Health North where he was pronounced dead. His body was later taken to Broward Medical Examiner's Office and the autopsy results have not been released.
"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," a Facebook post by the store's attorney Luke Lirot said. "Moments later, Mr.Siegel made an independent call to 911 and Mr. Archbold was administered CPR."
He was among the 20-30 participants in the "Midnight Madness" bug contest at Ben Siegel Reptiles in Deerfield Beach.
"How many giant roaches would you eat for a female ivory-ball python?," A Facebook page advertisement about the contest read. "Here's how it works: Eat the most bugs in 4 minutes, win the ball morph. That's it. Oh yeah, any vomiting is an automatic DQ."
Archbold had reportedly eaten nearly 20 giant creepy-crawlies; however, his competitive spirits couldn't take him to the prize he wished for.
"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," the store said in a statement on Facebook.
Ben Siegel owner claimed that the cause of death is definitely not the food as 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. A lawyer representing the Ben Siegel Reptile Store said all the contestants had signed disclaimers accepting responsibility for their participation in this unique and unorthodox contest.
The Sheriff's office later confirmed that none of the other contestants fell ill afterwards.
