Later Life and Death
In 2000, Bigelow and his wife, Dana Fisher, with whom he had three children, divorced. In 2005, Fisher sued Bigelow for non-payment of child support.
In July 2000, Bigelow received second degree burns on 40% of his body, while rescuing three children from a burning house near his home. Following the incident, Bigelow spent two months recovering in a hospital.
Upon his retirement, Bigelow moved to a private recreational community called "The Hideout", in Lake Ariel, Pennsylvania. He also opened the eponymous Bam Bam Bigelow restaurant, located nearby in the town of Hamlin in Salem Township, along State Route 590, but it later closed. He then relocated to Florida, with even his close friend Shane Douglas clueless as to his whereabouts.
In May 2004, Bigelow was charged with endangering the welfare of a child through reckless driving. He attributed the incident to a seizure he had suffered, and the charges were dropped two months later. In August 2004, he was convicted of possession of cannabis.
On October 2, 2005, Bigelow was hospitalized with a broken nose and several lacerations after crashing his Harley-Davidson motorcycle in Spring Hill, Florida. His passenger (and girlfriend) at the time, Janis Remiesiewicz, suffered much more severe injuries and was declared to be in "critical condition". Larry Coggins, a spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol, stated that Bigelow would be the focus of a homicide investigation should Remiesiewicz die, intimating that Bigelow would likely face charges based on "the factors...that led to this crash". Remiesiewicz eventually made a complete recovery, and remained with Bigelow up until his death.
On the morning of January 19, 2007, Bigelow was found dead in his home by Remiesiewicz at approximately 10:00 a.m. EST in Hudson, Florida. He was 45 years old. The autopsy results showed that Bigelow's death was due to multiple drugs found in his system including toxic levels of cocaine and an anti-anxiety drug. Bigelow was also suffering from a heart problem, specifically arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and had severe back problems.
Read more about this topic: Bam Bam Bigelow
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