Another bodybuilding star ‘dies suddenly’
Fans around the world are heartbroken to learn that bodybuilding legend Shaun “Dinosaur” Davis has died suddenly at 57, TMZ reported Tuesday.
Davis, who weighed 336 lbs, won the prestigious Mr. Universe title in 1996. He has also been crowned Mr. UK, Mr. Britain, Mr. Europe, and Mr. Pro Universe.
A cause of death has not been disclosed.
“I’m absolutely devastated,” the fitness star’s friend, Kuldeep Bhardwaj, wrote in a social media post. “Rest in Peace my friend you was a true inspiration right from the day I met you at school, through your amazing bodybuilding years and after. Your smile and laughter will be missed.”
Davis also became a staunch advocate for organ donation after he received a kidney transplant in 2009.
He was the fifth bodybuilder under the age of 60 to die suddenly this year.
In October, popular New Zealand fitness influencer and mother of five Raechelle Chase also died suddenly.
No cause of death was revealed for the Chase, who regularly posted about fitness and relationships for her 1.4 million Facebook followers. She was featured on 14 magazine covers and was the first Kiwi woman to compete in the annual Olympia bodybuilding event.
Her five children include twin boys and her oldest daughter, Anna.
In September, world-renowned bodybuilder Neil Currey died at 34, which his trainer Milo Sarcev called “absolutely shocking.” Currey was a professional bodybuilder who won the gold medal at the 2022 New York Pro. He then went on to compete in Mr. Olympia, the international contest which launched the career of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He finished 16th in the Classic Physique category.
In July, bodybuilding veteran Gustavo “The Freakin’ Rican” Badell died at 50 from a sudden stroke. Like Davis, Badell had also previously experienced kidney issues which were not life-threatening.
The month prior, famed bodybuilding influencer Jo Lindner died suddenly from an aneurysm at 30.
Lindner, who was known under the nom de guerre Joesthetics, had revealed just weeks before that he had been “peer-pressured” into taking four COVID-19 vaccine shots, which he did not want to do.
“You know how it is. It’s the same thing — you go to a party and you are with the wrong people, all of a sudden you might do something in this party you don’t want to do,” Lindner said on Bradley Martyn’s Raw Talk podcast. “I was in this place . . . and my friends said, ‘we can get it, you should get it, man.’”
“You got peer pressured into the vax?” Martyn asked.
“Yeah, kind of,” replied Lindner.
The fitness star shared that following the injections, foreign particles were found in his blood that prompted his doctor to recommend he get his blood cleansed in a process called plasmapheresis. Lindner underwent the procedure twice.
“The doctor was like, ‘You need to do it, man, if you want to survive after you took these shots. You need to do this now,’” said Lindner.
Last year award-winning bodybuilding and fitness icon Doug Brignole died suddenly after issuing a public challenge to those who refused the COVID-19 injections.
“I have enough confidence in the vaccine, based on my research, to get it done,” Brignole posted to Facebook in April 2021. “Those of you who think the vaccine kills people can use me as a test. If I die, you were right. If I don’t die, and have no ill effects, you were wrong, and should admit it (at least to yourselves). Better yet, you should admit that you were misled, and tell the world who misled you, so other people can benefit by avoiding those fearmongers.”
Brignole died 18 months later at the age of 63. He was in good health and preparing to guest pose at the AAU Mr. Universe in Las Vegas on October 22nd. A coroner report listed Brignole’s cause of death as COVID-19 with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease — hardened arteries.
Brignole had been vaccinated twice with the Moderna shots.
