Cancer Survivor Dies After Beer Keg Explodes On Him At His Birthday Party

A 43-year-old cancer survivor in Brazil died at his own birthday party last week after a beer keg exploded while he was trying to fix it.

Gilson do Nascimento rented the alcohol barrel for his birthday celebration in Campo Bom in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul on Friday evening, the New York Post reported.

However, there was a "problem" with the brew-dispensing device, and "only foam" was coming out of the tap rather than beer, according to Nascimento's niece, who chose to remain anonymous.

The locksmith shop owner then decided to try to repair it himself.

"My uncle called them [the rental company], and they gave him instructions on how to start fixing it until they arrived," said the niece, who was present at the gathering along with Nascimento's wife, sister and 15-year-old son.

But the beer keg exploded while the birthday celebrant was attempting to repair it, causing metal shards to hit Nascimento in the head.

Authorities are treating Nascimento's death as accidental and are now "interviewing witnesses at the scene at the time of the incident," police spokesperson Clovis Nei da Silva was quoted as saying.

Additionally, police are also investigating the brewery and delivery company to determine whether or not there was a malfunction in the barrel they supplied.

A lawyer for Chopp Express, the company that supplied the beer keg, claimed Nascimento was told not to touch the equipment as a technician was heading to the house to repair it, contrary to the niece's prior claims.

The beer keg had already exploded and Nascimento was dead at the scene when the repairman arrived, the spokesperson added.

The accident had left Nascimento's family "very shaken," according to his niece.

Nascimento previously battled cancer, which forced him to spend almost two months in the intensive care unit six years ago.

"He was a warrior, a working man, a wonderful family man. He was everything to us," Nascimento’s godmother, Angela Maria, was quoted as saying. "He will be sorely missed in our lives, it was a full house with him, always a full house."

Nascimento was buried at the Jardim da Memória Cemetery in Novo Hamburgo Sunday, a day after an autopsy was conducted on his body.