Woman Dies In Steam Room, No One Notices Til Next Day

[orangeblossom]

How does this happen.  Poor woman.

www.wistv.com/story/29550299/report-woman-had-been-dead-several-hours-in-co-gym-steam-room


LITTLETON, CO (KDVR/CNN) - A Denver woman died after passing out in the steam room of a 24-Hour Fitness club, but her body wasn't discovered until the following day and then not even by staff.



At 7:45 a.m. March 30, dispatchers took a phone call from a 24-Hour Fitness employee: “It's a female. It`s a female. She`s in the steam room. Someone had come out and said there was someone unresponsive in the steam room."



Akiko Belich, 77 and an avid hiker, was found dead in the steam room by a fellow gym member.



According to the 911 call, the witness said, "I went into the steam room this morning about 15 minutes ago, and I noticed a lady laying in the steam room. … She`s got signs of lividity all on the bottom half of her body."



Club records indicate Akiko Belich arrived at the health club at 1:06 p.m. the day before.



"My heart dropped. I was like, I just can`t believe it. What happened?" said Melissa Belich, the woman’s granddaughter.



She said she hates thinking her grandmother may have been in the steam room more than 17 hours before her body was discovered.



“It`s horrible,” Melissa Belich said. “I don`t even know what else to say, that she was there for that long.”



Sonya Wasinger, one of the two witnesses who found Belich, called the situation “inconsiderate and that's inappropriate and that's uncalled for. Obviously they didn`t bother to make rounds.”



A 24-Hour Fitness employee told investigators, "as part of his opening duties, (he) walked through the woman's locker room but admittedly did not look into the room or notice a grocery bag hanging on hooks across from the steam room doors."



"I wish I could've been there, you know,” Wasinger said. “I wish I could've gone in and found her and revived her.”



By the time Belich was found, the coroner believes she "had been dead for at least 12 hours."



The steam room temperature "was set between 115 and 118 degrees."



The autopsy report found "acute renal failure, due to probable dehydration," adding "significant body water loss can occur in a relatively short time under such conditions.”



"Poor woman and that family, I'm sorry,” Wasinger said.



Wasinger and Belich's family both says it's inconceivable to them that staff members weren't checking the steam room every hour or so.



"It would have made a difference. She might still be here," Melissa Belich said.



A club manager told investigators, " Employees do hourly ‘team cleans’ of the club, but that would not include the women's locker room area unless a female employee was working,” adding, "At the end of the night, the closing employee was supposed to walk the entire club to be sure everyone exited. ... That obviously was not done."



When asked if any employees were disciplined as a result of this death, 24-Hour Fitness stated: "We continually review our club protocols to ensure the safety and security of our members and to assure that everyone who visits a 24-Hour Fitness club has a positive experience. For privacy reasons, we don`t discuss staff or member information. "



Melissa Belich and her brother Jessie Belich said what they want is simple: "to prevent this from happening to someone else.”



“I think the biggest thing for them is to take accountability and look at their procedures and make changes accordingly," Jessie Belich said.



The coroner ruled the death an accident, and because fitness clubs are not regulated, 24-Hour Fitness faces no disciplinary action from any state agency.



But it may face a lawsuit. The Belich family has retained an attorney and is considering legal action.



Copyright 2015 KDVR via CNN. All rights reserved.

[josieposy]

I feel like we talked about this awhile back.

[orangeblossom]

Jul 15, 2015 18:01:49 GMT -5 josieposy said:

I feel like we talked about this awhile back.

Oops, just noticed the date, but now that I think about it, it was a man this happened to in the story we talked about before, IIRC.

[josieposy]

Jul 15, 2015 18:03:03 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

Jul 15, 2015 18:01:49 GMT -5 josieposy said:

I feel like we talked about this awhile back.

Oops, just noticed the date, but now that I think about it, it was a man this happened to in the story we talked about before, IIRC.

No you may be right. Maybe it was a guy? I just remember it was an old person several months back.

[orangeblossom]

Jul 15, 2015 18:05:45 GMT -5 josieposy said:

Jul 15, 2015 18:03:03 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

Oops, just noticed the date, but now that I think about it, it was a man this happened to in the story we talked about before, IIRC.

No you may be right. Maybe it was a guy? I just remember it was an old person several months back.

This was perplexing me, so I looked it up.  A man did die in January, due to an malfunction that caused the room to overheat.

This woman, though it happened in March, for some reason, it's just being reported on now.  I think the autopsy report must have just been released or something.

[gazpacho]

These stories are why I now avoid the sauna at the gym.

[bears]

I can't believe that a gym could have a steam room and not monitor it regularly. It's negligence.

[josieposy]

Jul 15, 2015 18:08:21 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

Jul 15, 2015 18:05:45 GMT -5 josieposy said:

No you may be right. Maybe it was a guy? I just remember it was an old person several months back.

This was perplexing me, so I looked it up.  A man did die in January, due to an malfunction that caused the room to overheat.

This woman, though it happened in March, for some reason, it's just being reported on now.  I think the autopsy report must have just been released or something.

Ah. Yeah right around the same timeframe. Which means this is happening way too often.

[LoveTrains]

There was also a woman dead in a pool for days a few years ago in Mass.

[ttt]

Jul 15, 2015 18:49:19 GMT -5 1234FIF! said:

See I have always thought no good could come from closing yourself up in a hot ass room on purpose.

Right??? I live in Atlanta. I want to be miserably hot and sweaty, I can just step outside any day from May until September. I pay for air conditioning to avoid this feeling.

[sparrowsong]

There was also a guy who died using a private bathroom at a movie theater in FtCollins, Co a few years back. He wasn't discovered for awhile. Colorado does not have a good track record on this stuff.

[devonpow]

We have a sauna and whenever DH uses it I obsessively check on him to make sure he hadn't passed out. It drives him nuts.

[epphd]

Swear to god that is a phobia of mine. I don't like steam rooms because the prospect of getting trapped and dying in one scares THESHIT out of me.

[AAM2012]

Has a lawsuit been filed yet?