Man Wins Bug-Eating Contest To Get Free Snake, Then Collapses And Dies

How far would you go to get something for free? A Florida reptile store held a contest where entrants had to eat roaches and worms. The champion bug-gobbler would receive a free–totally free–pet python. Remarkably, more than one person entered this contest. Tragically, the winner, a 32-year old man, vomited and collapsed after the contest, later dying in an area hospital.

Competitors had to sign a waiver that they were sober and had no known allergies to shellfish. (People allergic to shellfish also shouldn’t eat roaches: generally, this isn’t a problem.) None of the other contestants had any post-bug-eating problems, and authorities are waiting for the results of an autopsy on the winner.

Reports did not indicate who now owns the snake.

Man dies after eating dozens of cockroaches [WPLG]