The Fourth of July turned from fun to tragedy in Custer, South Dakota when a man participating in a hot dog eating contest choked to death. Walter Eagle Tail, age 47, lost consciousness during the competition and could not be revived when he was taken to the hospital.

From the Rapid City Journal:

"There was someone doing CPR when we arrived," Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler said on Monday. "Basically, he probably just suffocated. It got lodged in his throat and they couldn't get it out."

"It all happened within minutes," he added. "I think everybody was pretty well shocked about it."

There was a pie-eating contest scheduled for the following day, but it was canceled after the hot dog tragedy.

On a different side of the country on the same day, Joey Chestnut won his eighth hot dog eating contest after proposing to his girlfriend.

[Image via Rapid City Journal]