A 47-year-old man died during a hot dog eating contest in Custer, South Dakota, over the Fourth of July weekend in 2014, after food became lodged in his throat. Walter Eagle Tail suffocated in front of horrified onlookers at the speed eating event.
Choking incident and emergency response
Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler said: "There was someone doing CPR when we arrived. Basically he probably just suffocated. It got lodged in his throat and they couldn't get it out. It all happened within minutes. I think everybody was pretty well shocked about it."
A pie eating contest scheduled for the following day in the town was cancelled due to Walter's death.
Community reaction and tribute
Custer Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dave Ressler said it was the first time anyone was hurt in the local contest. "We are mourning for Walter and his family right now," he said.
The Rapid City Journal newspaper reported the incident as casting "a damper on the festivities", and organisers are contemplating changes to the competitive eating contest next year.
Eagle Tail was described as a man who loved a good joke and to help friends in need. At Crazy Horse, he would sell bear claw necklaces. Friend Ardis McRae told the paper: "Walter was just being Walter, having fun when he entered this contest. He was just having a good time."
She added he was a person who brought smiles to people's faces and was very outgoing. She posted a tribute on her Facebook page, with a photo of Walter. It was captioned: "This is my friend, Walter Eagle Tail, 47, he died Thursday. He will be missed."
Expert warnings on competitive eating
Dr Shanthi Sitaraman, gastroenterologist at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, told Medical Daily that competitive eating can be dangerous. He said: "[B]inge eating could cause stomach perforations in people with undiagnosed ulcers.
"Another risk is water intoxication for competitive eaters who consume large amounts as part of their training. This can cause dilution of electrolytes in the blood."
George Shea, the chairman of Major League Eating, a competitive eating organization based in New York, said organisers do everything they can to stop people getting hurt at these competitions.
"We always make sure it's in a controlled environment," Shea said. "We organize the entire thing around safety. (Just as) if it's football or hockey or auto racing, we approach it as a top priority."
