TikToker and long-distance runner Caleb Graves died after participating in the Disneyland Halloween half-marathon. He was 33 years old.
In one of his last TikTok videos, posted just a day before he collapsed and died, Caleb Graves told his concerned followers that he was losing “control of my body.”
The travel blogger and Disneyland fan, who has over 18,000 followers, eagerly shared his excitement about participating in a half-marathon at the renowned Anaheim theme park.
At 33 and in good health, he was gearing up to tackle the intense heat of sun-drenched California. He had been documenting his training progress as the state faced a major heatwave.
Looking visibly exhausted and distressed after walking out in 97°F temperatures, Caleb said he was “marginally worried” about the half-marathon. The next day, temperatures soared even higher, reaching 107 degrees over the weekend, when the runner collapsed.
When he crossed the finish line on September 7, police sergeant Matt Sutter told Entertainment Weekly that a worker saw Caleb “clutching his chest” and noticed he was going into cardiac arrest.
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The TikToker was rushed to hospital by emergency services after collapsing at around 7 am local time, but was pronounced dead just an hour after completing the race.
Although Caleb had no known medical conditions before the incident, he had previously mentioned his possible “susceptibility” to the heat, after collapsing while walking in the sun with his dog. “The Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon is tomorrow and I’m… marginally worried,” he said in his video.
“It was 97 degrees [today] and there are other places in the country that are obviously hotter, I know people are gonna’ say it’s not terrible… I grew up in Texas, I know what heat is like.” Caleb added that the heat in Anaheim was “its own kind of beast.”
At the time of writing, officials have not yet confirmed whether the heat contributed to Caleb’s death. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department and coroner stated that the investigation is still ongoing.