A 97-year-old man from California died at his own birthday party shortly after singing the Bee Gees’ hit song Stayin’ Alive.
The New York Post reports that the man, named Vito, had been thrown a Halloween-themed 97th birthday party last week. His neighbor, Eden Malinoff, 24, uploaded footage to TikTok on Monday of Vito dancing and clapping at the event.
The senior was all smiles and songs before his celebrations took a tragic turn when he suddenly died, reportedly just after party guests had sung him “Happy Birthday”.
Malinoff, a Los Angeles-based baker, wrote on TikTok: “This past week was Vito’s 97th brirthday and in true Vito fashion, he wanted to celebrate by throwing a Halloween birthday rager.
“So of course I made him a cake. When I asked him the secret to living such a long life, he told me it was to never drink cheap liquor.”
Malinoff added: “This man lived his life to the fullest, all the way up until his last moments, quite literally. At 24 years old, I could not keep up with this man, he was the life of the party.”
Speaking on the suddenly tragic turn of events that saw Vito pass away after dancing to ’70’s hit Stayin’ Alive, Malinoff said: “Unfortunately the night did not end as anticipated and Vito made a dramatic exit. But if there’s any way he could have chosen to go out it would have been like this.”
As per the New York Post, Vito’s best friend also confirmed his death on social media, revealing that Vito lived with medical issues that others did not realize were so serious.
“Unfortunately the night did not end as anticipated and Vito made a dramatic exit. But if there’s any way he could have chosen to go out it would have been like this,” she added.
“He was surrounded by people he loved, we were celebrating his long and full life, and I’m just so grateful I got to be a part of it.”
At the time of writing, Malinoff’s video has amassed over 3.4 million views.
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