A routine workout turned deadly at a Kent, Washington, LA Fitness.
Delrie Rosario, 36, died while working out on a treadmill there, KIRO 7 reports. Rosario’s sister, Marissa Woods, was with her when the accident happened.
“She tried to slow the machine down. I thought maybe she just missed a step,” Woods said. “She just collapsed and hit her head on the machine.”
Rosario lost consciousness and Woods screamed for help. She said other gym goers came to her sister’s aid but “not one [LA Fitness] worker,” Woods said. “I think they were in shock.”
Rosario, an organ donor, died later at a local hospital. Doctors informed the family that Rosario’s heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver will help save five lives, according to HuffPost. “How big can your heart be to still be saving lives?” her sister said. “Just think, somebody is walking around…with her big heart. They don’t even know what heart they’re about to get.”
Death by machine, similar to this LA Fitness incident, is rare but not as uncommon as people think.
According to data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 30 people died while being associated with treadmills between 2003 and 2012. Close to 16,000 patients were treated in emergency rooms for treadmill-related injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Injuries reported include broken bones, sprains, abrasions, friction burns, and blunt trauma.
Director of Fitness and Wellness for Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University, Toril Hinchman, told tThe Washington Post that the best way to avoid injury is to pay attention to the online ratings and reviews for the machine you are considering purchasing.
As the main source of treadmill-related injuries is simply not paying attention, reading may be tedious but life-saving. “No one loves reading through the book but it’s good to at least take a look at it and see if there’s something you need to be aware of,” Hinchman said.