Drug induced heart disease led to gym owner's death ( coroner blames coke and not steroids for a change )

A GYM owner with a history of cocaine abuse ‘trained harder than he ever had’ on the day he died an inquest heard.

Terry Litz, aged 52, was found slumped against the kitchen worktop of his Bewsey home after calling to his girlfriend, on July 21 at around 10.45pm, Warrington Coroners’ Court heard on Wednesday.

Adele Harrison-Litz, his girlfriend, of Hood Manor, said: “He went to shut the back door and I heard him shout ‘oh my God babe’.

“Everything went quiet and I heard a bang and found him slouched against the kitchen top with his back to me.

“I heard a strange noise like he was choking.

“The paramedics came quickly but it felt like forever.

“I pulled him away from the worktop and his arms literally fell down his side. He couldn’t raise his arms.

“I lay him on the floor on his side and it was as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t. By the time I lay him on his back, the whites of his eyes had filled with blood.”

She said she was trying to resuscitate her partner of around 12 years but he was not breathing so she ran into the street and shouted for help.

The court heard that Mr Litz, of Farmside Close, who owned the Muscle House gym in Bewsey, had trained ‘harder than he ever had’ earlier that day.

Paramedics tried to resuscitate Mr Litz but he was confirmed dead at Warrington Hospital.

Dr Mohammed Aljafari, a consultant pathologist, found Mr Litz’s heart to be grossly enlarged, weighing 494g – more than 300g heavier than an average heart.

Toxicology tests found evidence of previous cocaine use and tamoxifen, a cancer drug occasionally used bodybuilders to cancel the breast-boosting effects of steroids.

Ms Harrison-Litz said her boyfriend used to use cocaine and steroids but she was not aware of him taking any around the time of his death.

Evidence of surgery from when Mr Litz was shot in 2002 at a KFC restaurant in Hanley, Stoke, was also found.

Mr Litz was jailed in May 2006 for three years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine at a drug preperation in Sankey.

Dr Janet Napier, deputy coroner for Cheshire, said Mr Litz died from cardiac arrhythmia and cocaine induced cardiac disease.