MIAMI (AP) — The winner of a roach-eating contest in South Florida died shortly after downing dozens of the live bugs as well as worms, authorities said Monday. About 30 contestants ate the insects during Friday night’s contest at Ben Siegel Reptile Store in Deerfield Beach about 40 miles north of Miami. The grand prize was a python. Edward Archbold, 32, of West Palm Beach became ill shortly after the contest ended and collapsed in front of the store, according to a Broward Sheriff’s Office statement released Monday. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities were waiting for results of an autopsy to determine a cause of death. “Unless the roaches were contaminated with some bacteria or other pathogens, I don’t think that cockroaches would be unsafe to eat,” said Michael Adams, professor of entomology at the University of California at Riverside, who added that he has never heard of someone dying after consuming roaches. “Some people do have allergies to roaches,” he said, “but there are no toxins in roaches or related insects.”

 

Pres and kmarko already blogged this story but both went on about how this guy died what he loved doing and how it was poetic and yada yada, but that’s obviously not the case. Eddie didn’t look like he was having as much fun as advertised eating those several dozen roaches and worms. If you ask me the story here isn’t really about Eddie anymore. With all due respect — Eddie’s gone. Nothing we can do. He got roach’d. What we need to be focusing on is getting these other competitors quarantined up and maybe secretly vaporized by Big Brother. Who knows what kind of rare roach disease these dudes got now? Maybe it only affects them. Maybe it’s airborne already. Maybe I just watched Contagion and don’t have patience with random disease people anymore. Regardless — handle it, government.

PS – 100% chance everybody else in that eating contest has been doing the Jeremy Evans face all day: