Texan dies from injuries in Toughman contest
Apparently, the event will go on, but the name will be changed to "Stupidman". C'mon, folks, if you willing subject yourself to beatings by no-talent thugs, you have to be willing to accept the risks involved.
SAGINAW, Mich. - A Texas man who suffered severe head injuries during a Toughman competition in Michigan earlier this month has died.
Doctors said Scott Wood, 31, of San Antonio, likely developed a blood clot in his brain after receiving a blow to the head during a Jan. 4 fight at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Wood fell unconscious shortly after winning the bout and died about 11 a.m. Friday at Saint Mary's hospital in Saginaw, The Saginaw News reported.
Friends had said earlier this week that the father of three appeared to be making progress and was responding to questions by shaking his head.
Promoter Art Dore said he was "very sorry" to hear of Wood's death.
"We'd heard he was getting along very well," said Dore, whose Bay City-based Adore Able Promotions, Inc. produces the Original Toughman Contest.
Dore has said he will continue holding the amateur fights, despite pressure from state regulators.
In all honesty, Toughman contests are little more than sanctioned assault & battery contests. It's the law of the jungle, and the last man standing wins. That people suffer serious injuries leading up to and possibly including death should surprise no one. You pay your money, you take your chance. It's a hell of a way to die, but Toughman contestants have a way of looking past the risks involved.
I don't mean to seem insensitive to the death of a competitor, but it's not as if someone forced Mr. Wood into the ring. Why states sanction this sort of organized brutality is another question. There should be no place for a "competition" of this sort in civilized society.
