575-pound Heart Attack Grill spokesman dies at 29

[n2doc]

by Weldon B. Johnson - Mar. 3, 2011 05:16 PM
The Arizona Republic
Blair River was a big guy with a big heart.

River, who stood 6-foot-8 and weighed about 575 pounds, gained a measure of fame in the past year as spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill, a west Chandler restaurant that specializes in thick hamburgers and fries. He died on Tuesday at the age of 29.

The cause of death is currently unknown, but friends are speculating that it was the result of his contracting pneumonia after a bout with the flu.

Heart Attack Grill is an unabashedly unhealthy restaurant - the menu consists of huge burgers, milkshakes and fries cooked in lard - and having such a big man as a spokesman was part of its tongue in cheek "glorification of obesity." But those who knew River said he was more than the larger-than-life caricature he portrayed in promoting the restaurant.



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/03/03/20110303chandler-heart-attack-grill-spokesman-dies-500-pound-man0303.html

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kurovski]

2. Truth in advertising.

At long last.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

3. It was his right to --

eat himself to death of he chose to. It was stupid as hell, but his right.

[stockholmer]

4. food cognitive dissonance, Heart Attack Grill = the Roman Vomitorium of the 2000 AD's

:puke:

[yodermon]

13. i recently discovered that the Vomitoriums are a myth

at least as defined as a binge/purge routine.

They are actually theater exits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomitorium

[stockholmer]

22. thanks for the info!, it seems they did purge, but the word vomitorium was erroneously conflated

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2421/were-there-really-vomitoriums-in-ancient-rome

"You get the picture. The Romans weren't shy about vomiting, and they had vomitoria--but they didn't do the former in the latter. The conflation of the two appears to be a recent error. The Oxford English Dictionary cites Aldous Huxley using the term incorrectly in 1923, with the stern comment "erron." Urban historian Lewis Mumford makes a similar screwup in The City in History (1961), claiming that the vomitoria of the amphitheaters were named after the mythical dining room appurtenances. So you're in distinguished company, Christine, but still misinformed."

always good to learn something new

:)

[Obamanaut]

28. The 2000 AD's are fairly recent. nt

[joeybee12]

5. I just wonder if he would have tried to lose weight had this opportunity at "fame" come along? nt

[eleny]

6. Rest in peace

[givemebackmycountry]

7. If you finish off their "Quadruple Bypass" Burger...

The lovely servers wheel you out to the parking lot in a wheelchair.

[EC]

8. Guess he was the right spokesman

he just proved they live up to their name. 29 years old? Wow...

[dmallind]

24. Really? It's called the pneumonia and flu grill? nt.

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. wonder if the restaurant will lose business

[MilesColtrane]

10. Sad, and they should take down this ad.

http://www.heartattackgrill.com/Heart_Attack_Grill_Diet_Center/Comm_Blair_Orig.html

[damntexdem]

14. No, it should be left up -- but labeled "Dead at age 29."

[n2doc]

16. +1 n/t

[RagAss]

29. They took it down

[Erose999]

31. At least they're honest about it. I mean you can get a meal just as bad for you somewhere like

Subway and be under the impression that you're eating healthy because subway has a "healthier" image and marketing.

Or you can get a water, garden salad, and yogurt cup at Mickey D's. And then when you tell people you had a meal at McD's they judge you for it.

[XemaSab]

39. You really have to search out something that unhealthy at Subway

If you want to go unhealthy at Subway, a footlong meatball marinara and a footlong big pastrami with cheese are tied at 1,160 calories. A footlong mega omelet sandwich is 1,420 calories.

http://www.subway.com/applications/NutritionInfo/Files/NutritionValues.pdf

A Burger King veggie burger, medium fries, and a medium coke (which is what I usually get there) are 1,140 calories. It's also got 38 grams of fat, and a FLOORING 1,710 mg of sodium. My god.

A medium Whopper value meal is 1,400 calories, 62 grams of fat, and 1,660 mg of sodium.

http://www.bk.com/en/us/menu-nutrition/full-menu.html

I'm not trying to make the argument that Subway is inherently healthier, but it's much easier to stay away from the death-on-a-plate. I had to search out the unhealthy food at the former establishment, while for Burger King I picked a "typical" meal.

[damntexdem]

11. Wow, it's amazing he lived as long as he did.

Too many visits to the fry bar.

[Vinee]

21. In his defense, he was 6'8" tall and a HS/college athlete

The man was a freaking giant and MI hasn't been determined to be the cause of death yet. the article speculates that it was actually respiratory.

[sendero]

38. It's typical..

... that most of the posters here didn't bother to read the article. It's not clear that his weight had fuck all to do with his demise.

People who hate someone because they are fat or skinny piss me off. "jump in the lake" o perfect jackasses.

And BTW, my weight is near perfect.

[bettyellen]

40. serious respitory issues are very often related to heart disease and obesity

[Gregorian]

12. That place sounds like the Sarah Palin of restaurants.

Go ahead, flaunt your stupidity and diseased lifestyle.

Sometimes I wish the human being weren't so resilient. And I mean no disrespect to the poor guy who is dead. He was just doing a job for the goons.

[Champion Jack]

15. America, fuck yeah!!

meh

[pokerfan]

17. In addition to a dessert tray

they also provide a crash cart.

[LibertyLover]

18. "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" profiled this place

a season or two back, IIRC. I remember watching it and being totally repulsed by the food and the quantities. In the interests of full disclosure, I'm overweight, like to eat and need to work out more, but nothing about this restaurant held any appeal whatsoever. I am sorry this individual is dead at such a young age. It is a shame.

[SidDithers]

19. So...they're looking for a new spokesman?...nt

Sid

[greytdemocrat]

42. LOL!

I guess there are worse ways to go.

[Fuzz]

20. Never heard of this place. If you are over 350 lbs, you eat for free.

http://www.heartattackgrill.com/Heart_Attack_Grill_Diet_Center/DIET_PROGRAM.html

[progressoid]

23. OMG

:wow:

[MellowDem]

25. Would be more ironic if he died from his weight...

but this just looks sad more than anything else.

[EOTE]

27. Wouldn't that be the opposite of ironic?

As in expected? I blame Alanis Morisette for making people forget what ironic is.

[MellowDem]

30. Depends on your perspective...

To me, the fact that it was all tongue and cheek and in jest, wink wink, nudge nudge, and then having the guy die at 29 would be irony. Not only is dying at 29, even as obese as that, from a heart attack not expected and fairly rare just from clogged arteries, but also the idea that how you eat isn't a big deal, it's all fun and games and not a serious health issue, and then dying from how you eat at 29, would be ironic.

So, based on the restaurant making light of very serious health issues, and the age of the guy, I'd consider it ironic, that is, opposite of what was expected.

[EOTE]

32. The restaurant may be making light of serious issues.

But I don't think they're trying to suggest that eating like that isn't dangerous. The commercial even says that side effects of eating there might include "mild cases of death". I think the owner is very well aware of the consequences of eating his food regularly, he just wants to make sure that there's a place so un-PC that people can eat that way if they want to. And frankly, I agree with that philosophy. People should be able to eat whatever they want so long as they know what they're doing to themselves. But weighing nearly 600 lbs is going to be hell on any body, no matter how old. If he hadn't died from a respiratory issue, I'd imagine it would have been something else very shortly. And this is coming from someone who is also obese at 6'4" and 300+ (just started Atkins a month ago).

[Taverner]

26. TWENTY NINE????

That's too early to go, no matter how unhealthily you eat.

Hell, injecting street heroin with needles you find in the gutter wouldn't even kill you by 29!

[malaise]

33. This is a really really stupid loss of life

but everyone has the right to kill him or herself.

[Taverner]

35. Yes, but that still doesn't negate how much it sucks

He had a daughter he loved...

Right now I feel bad for her, having a daughter myself.

[dawg]

34. RIP Blair

People who have chronic weight problems are not slovenly people with no willpower who eat themselves to death. It is extremely difficult for these people to break their patterns and lose weight and keep it off. Anyone who has never had to deal with a chronic weight problem does not understand. (And that includes me. I'd love to lose 10 lbs but I don't have a chronic weight problem)

As for the restaurant - they do a few things that really creep me out. But let's be serious. They'd be the first to tell you they aren't the kind of place you should eat everyday.

I just don't like to see people *judging* this poor young man.

[DeadEyeDyck]

36. RIP big fella

[reformist2]

37. The owner is kind of like Jack Kevorkian... very creepy, imo.

[Maine-ah]

41. ok...I can't help myself here....my dark side lol

"We're like a family here and he was part of our family," Arreola said. "He will be missed. He'll definitely be missed."

is her name pronounced the way I think it is?


**********

I would like to add, that I do find it very sad that a man who had a whole life in front of him, and a child too, lost his life at such a young age.