Richard Simmons refused medical help before he was found dead in his home
FILE – Richard Simmons speaks to the audience before the start of a summer salad fashion show at Grand Central Terminal in New York on June 2, 2006. Simmons, a fitness guru who urged the overweight to exercise and eat better, died Saturday, July 13, 2024, at the age of 76. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg, File)
LOS ANGELES – Richard Simmons refused medical help after falling the night before he was found dead in his Hollywood Hills home, it was reported Monday.
Law enforcement sources told TMZ on Monday that Simmons had fallen in his bathroom Friday night before his housekeeper helped him up and tried to get him medical attention immediately. However, Simmons rejected the idea because he wanted to stay home on what was his 76th birthday, according to the outlet, which also reported that Simmons had described feeling dizzy before the fall.
Authorities were dispatched at 9:55 a.m. Saturday to 1350 Belfast Drive on a call of a cardiac arrest/suspected death, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The department described it as a “natural death.”
His housekeeper was the one who called authorities, according to multiple media reports.
The fitness guru celebrated his birthday Friday, which he wrote about in a lengthy Facebook post.
“Thank you — I never got so many messages about my birthday in my life! I am sitting here writing emails. Have a most beautiful rest of your Friday,” he posted in a follow-up message.
After spending years as a ubiquitous figure on television, Simmons had retreated from public appearances in recent years amid rampant speculation about his health. He was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in 2017 for what was reported to be a gastrointestinal problem.
But he told People recently that he felt good as he prepared for his birthday.
“I feel good! I am grateful that I’m here, that I am alive for another day. I’ll spend my birthday doing what I do every day, which is to help people,” he said.
Simmons revealed in March that he was diagnosed with and treated for skin cancer “so many years ago.” (CNS)
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