Artur “Waluś” Walczak, one of the participants of the PunchDown gala, died in a hospital in Wrocław. In late October, the contestant fell to the ground after being knocked out, injuring his brain as a result. Since then, he has been left in a coma from which he never woke up. He was 46 years old.
Artur “Waluś” Walczak he was hospitalized on October 22 after a fight at a slapfighting gala organized in one of Wrocław’s clubs. This discipline consists in hitting each other in the face of opposing players. Opponents do not keep their guard up and cannot dodge. They turn the cheek and wait for their turn to give up. Whoever knocks out the opponent wins.
Artur “Waluś” Walczak. Death after knockout
The 46-year-old faced Dawid “Zales” Zalewski. The former strongman took a powerful blow, after which he fell to the ground. First, rescuers took care of him. Later an ambulance took him to the hospital.
The athlete’s condition was described as critical. He was put into a pharmacological coma. In mid-November, an attempt was made to wake Walczak, but without success. The 46-year-old died on Friday (November 26).
– The cause of death was multi-organ failure resulting from irreversible damage to the central nervous system – said Monika Kowalska, spokeswoman for the University Teaching Hospital in Wrocław.
Study of the legality of the event
A few days after the unlucky gala, the District Prosecutor’s Office for Wrocław-Old Town initiated an investigation into the immediate danger of loss of life or serious damage to health.
– The subject of the investigation is to examine the legality of organizing such events, and above all, whether the safety conditions for the participants of this event have been maintained. Whether the organizer provided the appropriate conditions, or whether it should and did not keep. As part of the initiated investigation, we managed to contact the organizers, who undertook to provide all documentation regarding the organization of this event, said Małgorzata Dziewońska, spokeswoman for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Wrocław at a press briefing at the end of October.
The organizers themselves then issued a statement in which they described the event as “very unhappy” and “one of those that no one wants, although it is included in the risk associated with this sport discipline”. They added that the rescuers present helped Walczak.
“The competitor remained conscious, but the disturbing neurological symptoms observed by the rescuers prompted them to call the ambulance service” – the organizers wrote.
The investigation continues
On Friday, in an interview with tvn24.pl, the spokesman for Dziewońska said that the prosecutor in charge of the investigation sent the body of the 46-year-old to a forensic medicine facility.
– Death is an important circumstance that the prosecutor will take into account in the further course of the proceedings, but it does not change the qualifications. No one has been charged in this case so far – says Dziewońska.
The former strongman was 46 years old
Artur Walczak was 46 years old. He came from Gniezno. For many years he successfully competed in strongman competitions. Then he tried his hand at martial arts. He had several MMA fights behind him. Recently he participated in a slapfighting competition.
Main photo source: TOMASZ GOLLA / AGENCJA SE / East News