Paul Dillett, a bodybuilding legend, was given the nickname ‘Freakenstein’, a punny name after Mary Shelley’s titular monster. This is because of his enormous size, which made him one of the biggest bodybuilders at the time. Dillett faced a challenge like never before in 1994 at the Arnold Classic Competition. And that incident changed his life for years to come.

In Ingmar Bergman’s classic “The Seventh Seal”, one can see the protagonist Antonius Block play a game of Chess with Death, to beat and cheat Death. Paul Dillett managed to do exactly what Antonius Block failed to do. Notably, Paul was dead for an entire minute before he miraculously regained consciousness. It is unclear if he played the game of Chess with Death.

Series of events building up to the moment when Paul Dillett collapsed:

Paul was at the Arnold Classic competition in Columbus, Ohio, in 1994. During his first round of posing, Paul suffered a cramp and a muscle spasm, which made him leave the stage. He later came back and finished his routine at night, when he suffered another cramp. At this point, he yelled out, “Oh My God!”, which was probably a moan of pain. 

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However, Paul soldiered on and reached his prejudging routine. This is when things fell apart for him. Paul suddenly collapsed on the stage and was barely moving. His limbs and body remained stationary as he had stopped breathing for a full 60 seconds. 

Several men had hurried onto the stage and held him like they were giving Paul a tight hug. In a few seconds, they were carrying him off stage just like a dead body – Horizontally, with all his limbs flailing apart. Paul’s life, it seemed, was hanging by a thread. 

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Paul’s dilapidated state, just moments before the collapse, was because of a prolonged state of dehydration. The doctors tried to treat him, but couldn’t even find a vein in his body to inject for the first four times.

After Paul’s consciousness had returned, the Doctors said, “You were legally dead, “ thereby informing him about the incident. His shock was then vividly expressed in what he said in interviews ever since – “My heart stopped beating for a minute. One whole minute”. Paul admitted he was never the same person after hearing the news.

Paul’s second breath to life but unfortunately not for Dallas McCarver

In 2017, a similar incident happened, this time too at the Arnold Classic competition. Dallas McCarver, another bodybuilder, had collapsed on stage during his prejudging routine. Dallas later stated that the collapse was a result of his inability to breathe. He was suffering from bronchitis and an upper respiratory infection. Dallas has since passed away in August of that year.

When talking about Dillett, he continued his bodybuilding career for two more decades after that harrowing incident. Although his love for bodybuilding continues, he believes the 90s were the glorious decade of bodybuilding, and the sport is nowhere near its prime now. He said, “I wish people could have seen what bodybuilding was in the ’90s. We would sign autographs until our fingers were swollen… the fans back in the day were so die-hard”. 

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Such incidents work as a reminder, while life is cruel enough, it could get crueler if one doesn’t take proper care of their well-being at all times. Bodybuilders often have to face the wrath of health issues, but do they face it more than regular people?