A bodybuilder who collapsed in the shower of a 24-hour gym and went undetected for 15 hours has died two weeks after the incident after being put into an induced coma.
Guiliano Pirone was training for a bodybuilding competition when he suffered a brain injury in the shower of a Perth gym on August 20.
He had gone to the gym before work and was not discovered until later that night when police stormed in and found him on the floor of a cold shower.
He had been on life support at Joondalup Hospital for two weeks but tragically died on Thursday morning.
Pirone’s mother, Daniella, said her son stopped at the gym on his way to work and when he didn’t come home or return her calls later that day, she began to panic.
The family tried to contact Mr. Pirone’s friends, his ex-wife and people he spoke to on a daily basis, but no one had heard from him.
“It was very unusual, completely out of the ordinary,” Pirone said.
His mother reported him missing to the police, who managed to locate his phone and tracked him down at the gym.
Giuliano Pirone (pictured) collapsed in the shower of a 24-hour gym after training
Police were able to track Mr Pirone’s phone when his mother reported her son missing to them.
“The police had to break in and found him in the shower (with the cold water running), bent over on the floor and collapsed,” she said.
“They thought he was dead.”
Ms Pirone said police officers performed CPR and her son quickly regained consciousness before being taken to hospital by ambulance.
“The officer who was in charge of everything came and picked me and my husband up and took us straight to the hospital, and that’s where I’ve been ever since,” she said.
Ms. Pirone said the shower at the gym where her son was found was a stall with a locked door.
“He was there and they had to break down the door to get him out,” he said.
‘He texted a friend at 7.03am and they didn’t find him until about 10.30pm, I got to the hospital about 12pm
‘He texted a friend at 7.03am and they didn’t find him until about 10.30pm, I got to the hospital about 12pm
Mr. Pirone died two weeks after the incident, after being
Pirone’s mother said 24-hour gyms are dangerous and called for a registration system
“I was alone, my beautiful son was alone on that sloping floor, he collapsed (and hit his head), for about 15 hours and nobody noticed anything. I am stunned.”
Ms Pirone said unstaffed 24-hour gyms were a danger and more needed to be done to monitor customers using the facilities.
She said her son had arrived at 4.55am and his car was parked by the front door but no one noticed anything.
“There should be a check-in system, so that after two or three hours, if someone has not left, the staff will look for that person,” he said.
“He wouldn’t be in an induced coma now if someone had seen him in two or four hours,” he said.
“If it weren’t for the kindness of these police officers in tapping his phone, I wouldn’t still be holding my son’s warm hands.”
