Man Tried To Win Donut-Eating Challenge, Choked To Death Instead

Voodoo Doughnuts in Denver, Colorado is known for its giant donut “Tex-Ass Challenge” where customers attempt to down the deep-fried treat in less than 80 seconds. If they complete the feat the donut is free and they get a button. That’s it.

Travis Malouff, 42, had a go at the challenge on Sunday, which is the equivalent of eating a half dozen donuts in one sitting, but instead of winning a button he was pronounced dead on the scene by paramedics at 1:30am.

According to SFGate, Malouff choked on the half-pound sized glazed doughnut.

The cause of death was “asphyxia, due to obstruction of the airway,” the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner said Monday morning.”

“It’s tragic,” Travis Malouff’s father, Curtis Malouff, told NBC 9News. “It’s a loss of life that shouldn’t be.”

The station said two people inside the shop at the time tried to help Malouff when they realized he was choking, but they couldn’t perform the Heimlich maneuver.

Witness Julia Edelstein told the Associated Press that mood in the shop was festive as Malouff prepared to devour the large desert.

People waiting to buy a doughnut around closing time were singing and dancing along to the music playing in the shop when Edelstein heard an employee announce the challenge: “Let’s give him a round of applause.”

Malouff tore the doughnut in half and started eating it, walking around looking determined, Edelstein said. The employee announced the elapsed time: 30 seconds. Malouff took a sip of water, another bite of doughnut and then hunched over the counter and starting pounding on it, Edelstein said.

“Watching somebody participate in an eating contest, it looks like they’re distressed,” she said. “The whole thing looks like a sign of distress. Nobody realized what was happening.”

Part of the doughnut was still in Malouff’s hand when he turned away from the counter, his face blue, and collapsed. Two customers broke his fall and desperately tried to help him until paramedics arrived.

Malouff wasn’t the only person to die on Sunday during a food challenge. Caitlin Nelson, a 21-year-old Sacred Heart University student (pictured below), died at the hospital after choking during a pancake-eating contest. Police say she also had multiple food allergies that may have contributed to her death.

For local news footage including an interview with two witnesses at the donut shop, click below:

On a happier note, here’s footage of a guy completing the “Tex-Ass Challenge”: