Grief counselors will meet with staff and gym members this week after a freak weight-lifting accident claimed the life of a 22-year-old.

Weightlifter dies after 315-pound barbell drops on his neck

Authorities said a 22-year-old man has died after a barbell slipped from his grasp and crushed his neck at a gym in central Iowa. The accident occurred Monday morning at Elite Edge Transformation Center in Ankeny. A spokesman for the center, Mark Yontz, said Thursday that Kyle Thomson had been bench-pressing 315 pounds when the barbell slipped. Thomson died of massive internal injuries. Ankeny Fire Chief James Clack said the barbell fell on Thomson's neck. Clack said a fire ambulance took Thomson to a Des Moines hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Yontz said there had been spotters watching Thomson on the bench. Iowa State University spokeswoman Annette Hacker says Thomson was a student there and lived in Pleasant Hill. Friends said Thomson was an avid weight lifter. He played football at East High School. "He was a big kid," East High School football coach Greg Schoon said. "That's weight I know he has handled before, so he probably didn't have a second thought. Or I have done it before. I will do it again. I'll be safe, but accidents happen, unfortunately." Grief counselors will meet with staff and gym members this week.

Authorities said a 22-year-old man has died after a barbell slipped from his grasp and crushed his neck at a gym in central Iowa.

The accident occurred Monday morning at Elite Edge Transformation Center in Ankeny.


A spokesman for the center, Mark Yontz, said Thursday that Kyle Thomson had been bench-pressing 315 pounds when the barbell slipped. Thomson died of massive internal injuries.

Ankeny Fire Chief James Clack said the barbell fell on Thomson's neck. Clack said a fire ambulance took Thomson to a Des Moines hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Yontz said there had been spotters watching Thomson on the bench.

Iowa State University spokeswoman Annette Hacker says Thomson was a student there and lived in Pleasant Hill.

Friends said Thomson was an avid weight lifter. He played football at East High School.

"He was a big kid," East High School football coach Greg Schoon said. "That's weight I know he has handled before, so he probably didn't have a second thought. Or I have done it before. I will do it again. I'll be safe, but accidents happen, unfortunately."

Grief counselors will meet with staff and gym members this week.