A holiday eating contest in a small South Dakota town ended in tragedy when a 47-year-old man choked on a hot dog in front of a shocked crowd. Walter Eagle Tail died during the event in Custer over the Fourth of July weekend in 2014. The community is still remembered for how quickly a day of fun turned into one of sorrow.
The contest was a lighthearted part of the town’s Independence Day festivities. Competitors were taking on hot dogs as spectators watched. Within minutes, something went badly wrong.
A fast and frightening emergency
Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler said that when officers arrived, someone was already performing CPR. In his words, Eagle Tail "probably just suffocated" because the food became lodged in his throat and could not be removed. "It all happened within minutes," the sheriff said. "I think everybody was pretty well shocked about it."
The effects were felt across the town. A pie-eating competition planned for the following day was cancelled. Local reporting said the death put "a damper on the festivities", and organizers began to consider changes to next year’s competitive eating event.
Dave Ressler, executive director of the Custer Area Chamber of Commerce, said it was the first time anyone had been hurt at the community contest. He said the town was mourning Walter and his family.
Remembering a man who loved to help
Those who knew Eagle Tail described a warm, funny man who was always ready to lend a hand to anyone in need. He was a familiar face at Crazy Horse, where he sold bear claw necklaces.
His friend Ardis McRae said he had simply been enjoying himself when he signed up. "Walter was just being Walter, having fun when he entered this contest. He was just having a good time," she said. She described him as an outgoing person who cheered up everyone around him.
The risks behind the records
The death has also raised wider questions about the dangers of eating quickly and in huge amounts. Dr Shanthi Sitaraman, a gastroenterologist at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, has warned that binge eating could cause stomach perforations in people with undiagnosed ulcers.
She also pointed to water intoxication, a risk for eaters who drink large amounts of water in training, which can dilute the electrolytes in the blood.
George Shea, chairman of Major League Eating, said professional events put safety first. "We always make sure it’s in a controlled environment," he said. "We organize the entire thing around safety."
How things stand
For Custer, the loss of Walter Eagle Tail meant a quiet end to a holiday weekend that had started out cheerfully. Organizers were weighing up changes to the contest, and the town was left remembering a man his friends said was always laughing and always helping. To those who knew him, he will be remembered as someone who brought joy to others.
Image credit: Ardis M. McRae/Facebook
Source: The Mirror US
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