A Perth bodybuilder has died after spending 15 hours unconscious in a gym shower without anyone noticing.

Giuliano Pirone, 33, suffered a brain injury and was placed in a medically induced coma in Joondalup Hospital for two weeks, on life support.

He had been working out at a 24-hour gym in Wanneroo when he felt unwell, went into a shower and collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday morning, August 20.

When they were unable to contact him, his family reported Mr. Pirone missing.

Police found Mr. Pirone at the gym at 10:30 p.m., checking his cellphone, which they had to break down to get to.

They found him lying on the floor under cold running water.

Police performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until the ambulance arrived.

Mr. Pirone did not regain consciousness and an MRI scan confirmed that he had lost brain function.

“I will never look at the sun, the moon or the sky in the same way again. The light that shone so brightly is gone,” his mother, Daniela Pirone, told ABC Radio Perth.

Doctors informed the family that they believed the patient’s blood sugar levels had dropped significantly, his blood pressure had dropped, and he had possibly experienced some type of seizure.

Gym safety in the spotlight

Mr. Pirone’s family wants to know how he was able to stay in the shower for so long without realizing someone was there.

“My beautiful son was on that floor by himself, he fell, he cracked his head for about 15 hours and no one noticed anything,” Ms Pirone told ABC Radio Perth last week.

“His car was parked right in front of the gym because it was 4:55 a.m. when he checked in.

According to the gym’s website, there are certain hours during the day when staff are closed.

“You can see he’s not feeling his best on the treadmill,” Ms. Pirone said of the footage.

“He crashes into other machines. He staggers to the showers, holding his stomach, not feeling well.

“(He) went in there and I think he just locked himself in, got hot, turned on the cold water and boom, he passed out.”

Ms Pirone said she believes all gyms should be staffed and bathroom and shower checks should be carried out hourly to prevent what happened to her son.

She also asked if there were emergency alarms at the gym.

Her daughter Rosa Ostapenko said the gym should also have a more efficient check-in and check-out system.

“I think they should introduce a check-in and check-out system where if someone has been in the gym for more than three hours, there has to be some kind of alert because it is very rare for someone to go to the gym for more than three hours,” Ms Ostapenko said.

When ABC Radio Perth first revealed what happened, gym management offered their “deepest sympathies to the Giuliano family at this difficult time”.

“Our thoughts are with them and we pray for a healthy recovery. We are in contact with those close to Giuliano and will continue to work with the family to provide all possible support,” the statement read.

“Since we became aware of the incident, we have provided, and continue to provide, all necessary access and information to the emergency services to assist them in their operations.

“As a 24-hour gym, we continue to be committed to maintaining a safe, secure and accessible environment for all of our members.”

Police have now gained access to the surveillance footage and will now prepare a report for the coroner.

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