TORONTO – Tragedy struck at Trinity Bellwoods Park yesterday when a man’s stroke symptoms were mistaken for a convincing zombie performance at this year’s Zombie Walk in the Park.
Derek Rizzi, 44, arrived at the park with his friends in full costume, ready to mill about in a fun zombie horde. But at some point during the festivities, his limping, slurred speech and moans of confused agony were no longer a performance, but a poorly timed, impossible to recognize, cry for medical attention.
“Derek and I have been friends for over 20 years. We’ve watched almost every zombie movie there is together, and he was always one to commit to a performance. I had no idea he was in trouble. No one did! Everyone kept commenting on how in-character he was, and wanted to know where they could buy the realistic blood running out of his ears,” said Jan Withers, a childhood friend of the victim.
Reportedly writhing and growling incoherently for over half an hour up against a tree, Rizzi finally lost consciousness as the oxygen was slowly starved from his brain, causing massive cell damage. Friends eventually found him on the ground motionless, and knowing he hadn’t been pretend-shot by a shotgun, they called an ambulance, which rushed him to Toronto General Hospital.
Barely surviving the ordeal, doctor’s say Rizzi’s scans show large dark areas in the speech and coordination centers of his brain.
“It’s tragic,” said Withers, “the way the doctors are describing the recovery, it will be like everyday is zombie walk day… I mean, if he ever learns to walk again.”
