MUSCLE MAGAZINE
NEVER MADE IT TO THE ARNOLD EXPO
I have
personally known Joseph Baglio for over twenty years and it is with deep regret
that I bring this story. Joseph was a hard core Staten Island bodybuilder who
always had a smile on his face no matter how tough an obstacle stood before
him. Although I did not share his philosophy towards bodybuilding I am deeply
saddened by his passing and bring this story to you in his memory.
On
March 1, 2007 I flew to Columbus Ohio to attend the first annual Iron Age
Legends Dinner in Columbus, Ohio. The dinner was being held in conjunction with
the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic Expo Weekend and since I had always wanted to
attend this event it sounded too good to pass up. Past champions such as Bill Grant, Anibal Lopez, Dave Mastorakis, Joe
Meeko, Steve Michalik, Leon Brown, Vince Anello, Sergio Oliva, and many others
were scheduled to attend this historic occasion. Besides this time I had
a personal reason to be there. My good friend, legendary bodybuilder Leon Brown
was turning 60 that weekend and I didn’t want to miss his surprise birthday
celebration at the Iron Age Legends Dinner.
Leon Brown, who was invited to attend the
dinner as one of the legends of bodybuilding’s Iron Age, was shocked when he
heard host Jeff Preston announce from the stage that it was his 60th
birthday as Jeff and everyone in attendance began to sing “Happy Birthday” to
him. As the waitresses walked over to Leon’s table carrying a large birthday
cake Leon kept on muttering over and over to himself how surprised he was as he
smiled ear to ear. The Brown Bomber was among his peers and he wouldn’t have it
any other way on this special occasion.
However, the happiness was not to last for Leon as he
received a distressful phone call from fellow Staten Island bodybuilder Joseph
Baglio. Joseph Baglio was in Columbus that evening and called Leon
Brown from his hotel room to tell him he was experiencing tremendous pain
throughout his entire upper body. Joseph Baglio was scheduled to work the
Met-Rx booth at the Arnold Expo the next day. He was also planning to
stop by the Iron Age Legends Dinner that night to wish his good friend Leon
Brown a happy 60th birthday. Joseph Baglio never made it! Two
years earlier Joseph had underwent a heart transplant due to acute
cardiomyopathy and now was on the comeback trail. In late 2006 Joseph
Baglio competed for the last time in the NPC Eastern USA; placing 5th
in the Masters Class. Joe was ecstatic at this monumental achievement and his
future began to take new hope. But it was not to be.
Immediately after the phone call Leon Brown
left the Legends Dinner to rush Joseph to a local hospital in Columbus, Ohio;
where he stayed by Joe’s side until he was admitted at 3:30AM that night. The
next day while the Arnold Expo was in full swing, Joseph Baglio was undergoing
emergency surgery. It’s still unclear what procedure he received in the OR, but
Joseph remained in intensive care afterwards, never regaining full
consciousness. On Thursday, March 8, 2007, one week after Joseph Baglio
called his friend Leon Brown for help, the 40 year old bodybuilder passed away
due to heart complications. At his funeral he was remembered as a friend to
many, a loving husband to his wife Debra, and as an athlete who gave it his
all.
The
following is an article about Joseph Baglio that was featured in Met-Rx
Magazine (winter 2007) shortly before his death.
JOE
BAGLIO
THE
ULTIMATE COMEBACK
Life
was looking my way. In 2002 I won the
heavyweight class at the Junior USA. In
2003, I took second in the super heavies at the Junior Nationals. I started
preparing for the USA in Las Vegas in 2004.
But in February of 2004 I began to have difficulty breathing. At first I
thought it was the construction site I was working on, so I went to my family
doctor who thought it was my asthma acting up and put me on Advair. Soon it became so bad that I could not even
walk up two flights of stairs without feeling out of breath. So I told my boss I could not work in that
environment anymore and decided to get myself more thoroughly checked out. I then called my brother who is a doctor and
he advised me to meet him at the emergency room. After various tests, x-rays, and scans, the diagnosis was
pneumonia and an enlarged heart. I was
released with medicine and instructed to follow up with a cardiologist. My brother said he would find me one.
The following week my wife and I were walking
our dog on the boardwalk, and I began to cough and passed out. When I woke up I was on the ground. I stood up feeling a little disoriented and
we went home. My breathing continued to
get worse and I was afraid to sleep.
The next morning I called my brother to tell him what happened and we
met at the emergency room for a second time.
The cardiologist that treated me determined I had cardiomyopathy. I was placed on heart medicine and was told
to continue seeing him. My ejection
fraction was about 32 percent, which means my heart was not pumping the fluids
to my body correctly. Despite this, I
continued to train for the USA and was invited to guest pose at a high school
bodybuilding show. The night of the
show I was not feeling well at all but I had made a commitment and posed
anyway. After the show my friend Robby Lopez said I should not do the USA
because I did not look like myself.
When
I got home I was in a great deal of pain from my hernia and having a lot of
trouble breathing. I called my brother
and was scheduled for emergency hernia surgery. That night after surgery I began to cough up blood. My cardiologist put me in the CCU of the
hospital. I began to cough and passed
out again. My body was holding a lot of
fluid because my heart was pumping even less now. My weight went from 250 pounds to 280 pounds. A week later I was transported to Columbia
Presbyterian Hospital. I was put on
medicine and my water intake was monitored.
It was decided at that time I needed a heart transplant. By the end of June my body was shutting down
and my heart was getting worse. I would
need an LVAD (Left Ventricle Assist Device) to help me while I waited for a
heart. This device is designed to
assist the heart in pumping the fluid to the rest of my body. The LVAD is the size of a CD player and it
was placed inside my body with a tube that comes out of my stomach. It is then attached to a machine that is
plugged into the wall. The doctors
wanted me to walk around, so I had to attach the device to batteries to leave
my room.
A month later, I
was excited to go home but I was in pain and scared. We had learned all we needed to know about the LVAD machine, such
as how to use the hand pump if the machine stopped working, which was my
biggest fear. Also, my wound needed to
stay clean and my wife had to change the dressing three times a day. If it got infected it could cause more
problems. Being at home, I was excited
to see my dog Minnesota but scared that I may die. I had to have someone with me at all times in case the machine
stopped. My life drastically changed.
On October 21,
2004, at 2am, five months after being told I would need a heart transplant, the
doctors called me with the news that a potential donor had been found. After hours of anticipation, it was
determined that I was a match and I would immediately be taken into
surgery. As I lay on the operating
table, it felt like I was outside my body looking at someone else. When the operation was over, my family was
told that everything went well and the heart was beating strong. The next morning I woke up to the doctors
pulling the tube from my mouth, and I remember the feeling that I was alive and
I had made it. I left the hospital nine days later with lots of medicine and
instructions.
I knew that I was supposed to feel happy that
I was alive and I did, but there was a void in me from not being able to work
out. I became depressed and sometimes
angry that this happened to me. I went
back to the gym ten weeks after operation, after being told I would never be
able to train like a bodybuilder again.
I did not like me. I felt like I
was looking at someone else in the mirror.
I knew it would be a long road back, but I was determined to make
it. I pushed forward slowly and it
seemed to fill the void briefly. But I
was still yearning to be back on stage in competition. Meanwhile, I received a letter from the
donor’s family asking how I was doing and telling me about the donor and his
family. I was able to speak with the
donor’s mother, who encouraged me not to let my dream die. “You were given this heart to keep living so
do it,” she said. She told me not to
worry about what others think and to just follow my heart. This encouragement was just what I
needed. I felt the need to put my past
behind me and go forward. After a year
of going from gym to gym, I set my sights on training in a new atmosphere. I headed to Bev Francis’s Powerhouse Gym and
began my journey to my new life. I knew
the gym owner Steve Weinberger, from the bodybuilding shows I used to compete
in. He supported my decision to
re-enter competitions, and with his encouragement, I picked a show! I decided to enter the Atlantic City
Bodybuilding Championship in the Masters class in September 2006 and the Eastern
in November 2006.
At this point, it
was hard to remember how I used to look and it was not who I saw when I looked
in the mirror. I was still excited that
I was training for a show, knowing just 2 years ago I had almost died. When September came and I was preparing to
go back on stage I got chills thinking about it. I was back!! I had a
million emotions going through me. I
was excited, nervous, scared, and happy all at the same time. Just before I was about to go on stage, I
started to remember everything I went through – the passing out, the tubes I
was attached to, my inability to walk and the hallucinations due to all the
medications I was on. I thought of all
the nights I wondered if I was going to die.
And then I looked around and said to myself, “Look where you are. This crazy!
You made it back.” I laughed to
myself and started to savor the moment.
Steve Stone announced me and told the audience my story and I received a
standing ovation. I have received ovations before but this one put me on top of
the world.
I took fourth place
in the Master Atlantic City and fifth place in the Eastern Masters.
I finally feel that
I am not on the outside looking in. I
am right here and it’s great to be alive.
