Man Killed In Final Destination-Style Accident: Sauna Temperatures Soar And Burn Retiree Dennis Antiporek Alive
In a story that sounds as if it was pulled from the script of a Final Destination film, a man in Florida died after a fault in the machinery of his sauna caused him to be “roasted” to death. According to eye witness reports, the intense heat of the sauna caused the man’s skin to become a deep brown, resembling “jerky,” and fall off, landing on the floor around him.
Dennis Antiporek, 68, enjoyed his near-daily trips to his nearby sauna as a way to treat his neuropathy. Last Sunday, Jan. 18 seemed like any other regular visit to his sauna at Eden Isles Condominiums in North Miami Beach, Fla., the NY Daily News reported. When Antiporek hadn’t returned home for hours, his family began to worry. Antiporek’s daughter and wife, Lara and Ronnie Antiporek, went out to look for him, and upon searching the spa, they stumbled upon a horrific sight.
"I close my eyes and I just see his face charred," his wife of 49 years, Ronnie, told CBS Mimi. "And this sounds horrible, but there was skin on the floor and on the bench, and we shouldn't have had to see that."
The family’s lawyer, Ft. Lauderdale attorney Joseph Madalon, told The Daily News that Antiporek’s body was “totally broiled” and that he “literally looked like jerky.”
According to Lara, the sight of her father in such a state will continue to haunt her.
"I can't get that image out of my head. I can't get that smell … I don't want to eat, I don't want to do anything,” Lara explained. “Because all I can think about is being in that sauna and that heat and seeing the most important man in my life dried up into nothing."
It’s suspected that the accident occurred because the timer on the sauna was broken. Worse, the coils in the machine must have malfunctioned, causing the room to reach unimaginable temperatures. At the moment, cause of death has not been verified. Antiporek’s body was found near the entrance of the sauna curled up in a ball, and investigators are wondering if a serious illness such as a stroke or a heart attack may have incapacitated the retired sheet metal worker from leaving the room.
The remaining members of the Antiporek family have filed a wrongful death suit against both the condo association that housed the sauna and Elite Management Associated Inc., the company that maintains the sauna.