I’ve been at this a long time and in all those years since starting BC I’ve never heard of a eating competition contestant dying during a sporting event. Then it happened over the weekend to a man at a Fresno Grizzlies game. Dana Hutchings, officials say, choked to death after competing in a taco eating contest during the game.
Dana Andrew Hutchings loved sports and having fun, so a taco eating contest in the middle of a Fresno Grizzlies game seemed like the perfect combination for him.
Those tacos would be his last meal.
“He apparently began to choke, so Fresno Grizzlies medical staff rushed over, started to give him first aid and then turned him over to American Ambulance,” said Tony Botti with the Fresno County sheriff’s and coroner’s office.
Paramedics tried to clear food out of Hutchings’ airway, but he died less than 30 minutes later.
He’d made a strong impression before his death, sharing his strategy with fellow fans at the game.“He said he was going to enter a taco eating contest and has been not eating all day to make himself a winner,” said Eric Schmidt.
Hutchings family has started a donation drive to pay for his funeral. It sounds like he will be missed by many. You really don’t know when you’ll take your last breath. This is proof it can happen whenever. Gotta go out there and live life like Dana did.
