A commuter train struck and killed Greg Plitt Jr., a fitness instructor, model and actor, while he was filming a video, according to multiple media reports. The 37-year-old died of multiple blunt force trauma on Jan. 17 in Burbank, CA.
TMZ reported today that Plitt was trying to outrun a train as part of an ad promoting an energy drink. It wasn't the first time Plitt had filmed near a train track. A motivational video on his personal website and another workout video show Plitt laying down, doing pushups and working out with weights on a train track.
Last Saturday, however, the filming took a deadly turn when he was clipped by a Metrolink train, according to reports. At the time, he was with two other crew members at the filming location, but he did not have a permit to be at the restricted part of the tracks, according to commuter line officials.
Plitt starred on the Bravo reality television shows, "Work Out" and "Friends to Lovers," and on the soap opera, "Days of Our Lives." He was an Army Ranger and West Point graduate before becoming an actor, model, motivational speaker and entrepreneur. During his career, he was on the cover of more than 250 fitness magazines, appeared in 25 commercials, and was named as one of the 25 Fittest Americans by Men's Fitness magazine. He also launched several businesses and products, including Metaball, a multi-functional exercise and body transforming tool, and Whey Up, a protein and energy beverage supplement.
A public memorial service for Plitt will occur at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, CA. His family will have an additional service for Plitt in his hometown of Baltimore, MD, the following week.
On his personal website, Plitt's own words were prophetic: "When you are wondering how do you go on, the better question is, how do you NOT go on?"