TV Tonight

Contestant dies 2 weeks after Wipeout

wipeoutA contestant who participated in the US series of Wipeout has died. He had complained of knee pain during the taping of the show two weeks earlier.

During his Wipeout episode, Tom Sparks,33, was complaining of knee pain on the obstacle course, and the producers told him to stop. As the medics checked him out they noticed he was experiencing shortness of breath, and he went to a local hospital for further examination.

He was admitted to a US hospital two weeks later. The cause of death is pending additional tests but his father says doctors believe his stroke was likely caused by a pre-existing disease that causes unnatural blood clotting called antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS).

ABC and Endemol, released a joint statement to ET: “We offer our heartfelt condolences to the family. This is a tragic loss and our thoughts are with them at this time.”

Source: ETonline.com

6 Comments to “Contestant dies 2 weeks after Wipeout”

  1. Alvin says:

    I always cringe when i watch wipeout. what happens if the contestant has an accident in an obstacle (like the dangerous big bouncing balls) and dies or become a paraplegic.

  2. john says:

    Yeah antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS). Is dangerous. My wife was sitting at home one night and started complaining of chest pains. Took her to hospital turns out she had blood clots on her lungs. Ishe had about 8 in total. Doctors says she was lucky. the smallest one of the lot happen to land in a place that caused her disscomfort. So it is a dangerous condition that can be affecting people without their knowing.

  3. Nathan B says:

    Very sad…

    I must say those bouncy balls look incredibly dangerous, hope this wasn’t as a result.

  4. mikeys says:

    Poor guy, so young… This could have happened to anyone, even without going on Wipeout…

  5. damo says:

    it’s sad. i was watching it the other day on GO. one of the contestants hit her head pretty bad and it looked like she nearl broke he neck

  6. Adam says:

    Thats sad man death is bad

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