A bodybuilder is in an induced coma after he collapsed in the shower of a 24-hour gym and was left undetected for 15 hours.
Guiliano Pirone was training for a body-building competition when he became unconscious 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 barged in and found him on the floor of a cold running shower.
Talking to ABC Perth, Mr Pirone’s mother Daniella said her son was now in an induced coma in the intensive care unit at Joondalup Hospital in Perth’s north.
Ms. Pirone said her son had stopped at the gym on his way to work, and when he didn’t return home or return calls later that day she started to panic.
The family tried to contact Mr. Pirone’s friends, ex-wife and people he talked to everyday, but no one had heard from him.
“It was very unusual, completely out of character,” Ms. Pirone said.
His mother reported him missing to the police. They were able to ping his phone and tracked him down at the gym.
“The police had to barge in, they found him in the shower (with the cold water running) he was slanted on the floor collapsed,” she said.
“They thought he was dead.”
Ms. Pirone said police officers performed CPR and her son quickly became conscious, before an ambulance rushed him to hospital.
“The officer who was handling 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 gym shower where her son was found was a cubicle with a locked door.
“He was in there and they had to smash the door down to get him,” she said.
“He messaged a friend at 7:03am and wasn’t found until about 10:30pm, I got to the hospital about 12pm.
“He was alone, my beautiful son was alone on that floor slanted, collapsed (and had) smashed his head, for about 15 hours and no one noticed anything. I am just dumbfounded.”
Ms. Pirone said 24-hour unmanned gyms were a danger and more needed to be done to check on patrons who used the facilities.
She said her son had checked in 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 after two or three hours if they have not checked out staff look around for that person,” she said.
“He would not be in an induced coma until now if someone had seen him within two or four hours,” she said.
“If it wasn’t for the grace of these police officers to ping his phone I wouldn’t still be holding my son’s warm hands.”
