Death at theme park stuns friends

A 30-year-old man who died an hour after riding a Busch Gardens roller coaster had an undiagnosed heart ailment that a doctor says could have killed him while he rested in bed.

By KATHERINE GAZELLA

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 30, 2000

PALM HARBOR -- Whether he was cracking jokes with friends, entertaining customers at work or riding roller coasters, David Feldman knew how to have fun.

"If there was a party, Dave was there," said his mother, Mary Feldman. "If you were down, he'd bring you up."

What Feldman and his family never knew was that he had an inherited heart condition that could take his life at any moment. Last week, about an hour after stepping off the Montu ride at Busch Gardens, Feldman died of a massive heart attack. He was 30.

Friends and family members gathered Monday at a memorial service for Feldman, a Palm Harbor resident who was a popular bartender and waiter at the Palm Harbor Ale House. Feldman, a Countryside High School graduate, also had a side business entertaining at parties with a karaoke machine.

Friends were shocked by his sudden death.

"I dropped to my knees when they called me," said co-worker and close friend Helena Paolini, the office manager at the Ale House.

The doctor who performed Feldman's autopsy said he had a condition that causes the narrowing of the coronary arteries.

Feldman's heart attack may have been affected by riding the roller coaster, said Dr. Lee Miller, associate medical examiner for Hillsborough County. But he added that Feldman's condition was such that he could have had a heart attack while sitting quietly or lying in bed.

"He was living on borrowed time," Miller said. "This could have happened if he'd been sitting in an easy chair."

Busch Gardens spokesman Gerard Hoeppner pointed out that Feldman did not have the heart attack while on the ride or even immediately after getting off the inverted roller coaster.

Feldman went to Busch Gardens Wednesday with friends, co-worker Phil Vaughan said. He began to complain of stomach pains after getting off the Montu, Vaughan said. Feldman wanted to rest, and he separated from the rest of the group.

About an hour later, Vaughan said, they met at a hospitality tent, where Feldman's heart stopped pumping properly. He died almost instantly, his mother said.

Miller's autopsy showed that Feldman had had another heart attack, possibly within the past year. But he might not have known he was having it and might not have had any symptoms, Miller said.

Miller said that people who have this condition are discouraged from engaging in activities like riding roller coasters.

But Feldman did not know he had a heart condition, his mother said. Other men in the family have had heart problems, including her brother and father, who both died of heart disease.

"There's heart problems in the family, but he was 30 years old," Mrs. Feldman said. His death "just totally blew us away." Feldman's organs were donated and he was cremated.

In an effort to honor Feldman, employees at the Ale House already have raised more than $1,500 through a raffle and other events at the restaurant. They plan to donate some of the money to charity and the rest to Feldman's family.

Raising the money was easy, Paolini said. As soon as people heard that the jovial waiter had died, they eagerly contributed.

"The customers were throwing money," she said. "This is how much he was loved."

Times staff writer Graham Brink contributed to this report.

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