By Nadia Mitsopoulos, ABC News
Photo: 123rf
A Perth bodybuilder who spent 15 hours unconscious in a gym shower without anyone noticing has died.
Giuliano Pirone, 33, suffered a brain injury and had been in an induced coma, on life support, at Joondalup hospital for two weeks.
He had been working out at a 24-hour gym in Wanneroo when he felt unwell, made his way to a shower cubicle and collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday, 20 August.
After they were unable to contact him, his family reported Pirone missing. Police located Pirone at the gym at 10.30pm by pinging his mobile phone and had to break the shower door down to get to him.
They found him lying on the floor under cold running water.
Police performed CPR until an ambulance arrived.
Pirone did not regain consciousness and an MRI confirmed he had lost brain function.
“I will never look at the sun, the moon and the sky the same way again, the light that shone bright has left me,” his mother Daniela Pirone told ABC Radio Perth.
Doctors told his family they believe his blood sugar levels became extremely low, his blood pressure dropped and he may have had some kind of seizure.
Gym safety in the spotlight
Pirone’s family wants to know how he could have been in the shower for so long without anyone noticing he was there.
“My beautiful son was alone on that floor, collapsed, smashed his head for about 15 hours and no-one noticed anything,” Daniela Pirone said when she spoke to ABC Radio Perth last week.
“His car was parked right at the front of the gym because when he checked in, it was 4.55am.
“The showers are 20 metres away from reception and no one noticed anything. Don’t the showers get cleaned? I’m just dumbfounded.”
According to the gym’s website, there are some staffed hours during the day.
“You see him not feeling too good on the treadmill,” Daniela Pirone said of the footage.
“He bumps into other machines. He staggers to the showers, holding his stomach, not feeling well.
“[He] went in there and must have just locked himself in, felt hot, turned the cold water on and bang, he collapsed.”
Daniela Pirone said she believed all gyms should be staffed, and checks of bathrooms and showers conducted every hour to prevent what happened to her son.
She also questioned if there were duress alarms at the gym.
Her daughter Rosa Ostapenko said the gym should also have a more robust check-in and check-out system.
“I think they should implement a check-in, check-out system where if they’ve been at the gym longer than three hours, there must be an alert of some sort because it’s very rare that someone goes to the gym for more than three hours,” Ostapenko said.
When ABC Radio Perth first revealed what happened, the gym’s management offered its “deepest sympathies to Giuliano’s family during this difficult time”.
“Our thoughts are with them and we pray for a healthy recovery. We have been in contact with those close to Giuliano and we will continue to engage with the family to provide whatever support we can,” the statement said.
“Since we became aware of the incident, we have provided, and continue to provide all necessary access and information to emergency services to assist them in their efforts.
“As a 24-hour gym facility, we remain committed to maintaining a safe, secure and accessible environment for all our members.”
Police have already accessed the CCTV footage and will now prepare a report for the coroner.
“He’s my son. I can’t comprehend life without him. I just can’t,” Daniela Pirone said.
– ABC