(Daily360.com) – Richard Simmons, the pop culture and fitness icon, has passed away just after celebrating his 76th birthday. No foul play is suspected in the death of Simmons and he is said to have died of natural causes. Despite that, he did fall in the bathroom and it is possible the fall is linked to his unexpected death.
In March, Simmons posted on social media that he was dying, but it was an abstract post attempting to encourage people to live life to the fullest. He followed up that post by telling his followers that he is not dying and he apologized for the confusion. On a July 12, social media post, he said he has never received so many uplifting birthday messages. He thanked everyone for the well wishes and said he was working on writing response emails.
Simmons was well known as a fitness influencer in the 1980’s and 90’s that created many workout videos for people to watch from home. He moved to Los Angeles in the 1970’s and started to work as a waiter. He also appeared on television programs portraying himself, including 72 episodes of General Hospital.
Simmons described his childhood as a time of bewilderment and obesity. He was a compulsive eater that was 200 pounds in the eighth grade and nearly reached 300 pounds by the time he graduated high school. He couldn’t figure out what he wanted out of life and didn’t understand his relationship with food. He eventually became a fitness guru that spread the message that exercise is for everyone and that working out can be fun.
Simmons reportedly fell on the bathroom floor after experiencing dizziness. His housekeeper offered to call for medical assistance, but Simmons refused because he wanted to spend his birthday at home. The following morning, Simmons was not responsive and was later pronounced dead. It is unknown what caused the dizziness and Simmons showed no signs of external injury from the fall.
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