Going in style

The story is everywhere on the 'net today - a man who died shortly after eating cockroaches, crickets, and worms.  This summary via Salon:

The store, Ben Siegel Reptiles in Deerfield Beach, had been touting the contest for days on its popular Facebook page; earlier on Friday it posted a flyer that said the event was “featuring the soon to be infamous `eat bugs for balls’ contest,” referring to the prize of a female ivory ball python...

“I saw that he had a clear strategy. He would push everything into his mouth and try to swallow it with water.."

She added that the participants competed in several different rounds with different insects, and that the last contest involved the roaches, which were three or four inches long. “The worm contest happened right before the roach-eating contest. So he ate a very large number of insects,” she said, adding that each round lasted about four minutes.

Archbold won the contest...

Bernard said she did not see Archbold immediately after the competition ended. She recalled that an announcer said “the winner was vomiting somewhere and we’ll congratulate him when he comes back.”

Archbold, of West Palm Beach, collapsed in front of the store, according to a Broward Sheriff’s Office statement released Monday. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities were awaiting autopsy results to determine a cause of death. The medical examiner’s office said Tuesday it has sent samples of Archbold’s remains for testing, but results are not expected for another week or two.

The article goes on to speculate about allergy to cockroaches, but my bet would be that the clue lies in the fact that he was vomiting vigorously just before his death.  I suspect he ruptured his esophagus.

Some additional info and a photo of the victim at Arbroath.