Mike and I were friends. He lived only 7 miles from me. I have tons of pics of us together. Waiting on a heart transplant and not getting one in time... it's rough. He had a wife and kids.
He blames bodybuilding, and he had warned young up and coming bodybuilders time and time again about how dangerous the lifestyle could be.
Mike understood the addiction to having the kind of size that would stop onlookers in their tracks. That was always difficult for him to give up... that "look"
But in an interview, he stated what should seemingly be the obvious:
"Oh, god, where do I begin? I'd have to say that everything that led to my heart problem began the minute I started getting serious about competitive bodybuilding. In order to get bigger, I'd eat five, six, seven pounds of red meat a day, no vegetables. And I'd stay away from fruits because of their sugar.[10]
Worst were the chemicals. I have so many memories of being alone in a hotel room the week, five days or two days before a contest, and doing unspeakable things to my body—steroids, growth hormones, diuretics—anything and everything that we as bodybuilders do to achieve a certain look.
It has affected my whole life, so to all those guys who are on an eternal quest to have 21" arms and 20" calves, and who are so vain about their never-say-die attitude, I say, "Change your attitude." Worry about keeping that body of yours as healthy as possible, because it's going to have to last you not just through your next contest or to the end of your bodybuilding contract, but for a long time. And a long time for a human being is nothing. It goes by real quick, even quicker when your health is gone and you have nothing to stand live for."
Mike was a genuinely nice guy. Not just one of those guys you "say" is nice because they've passed. Right now he has literally thousands and thousands of friends who are devastated at his loss of life.
