Gym Horror Story: Attack of the Tanning Bed

The following is a short story that’s a part of our “Gym Horror Stories” series to celebrate Halloween. Each day this week, visit ClubSolutionsMagazine.com for a new tale from the gym. 

Imagine your worst nightmare when it comes to using a tanning bed. If you ask most tanners, their answer isn’t skin cancer or germs — it’s a Final Destination kind of scenario where they get locked in a running tanning bed and fry.

John, as we’ll call him, a former member of Urban Active Fitness, has such a story to tell for the rest of his life.

On an average rainy spring day in Louisville, Kentucky, John had finished his workout and decided to top it off with a visit to the stand-up tanning bed. The front desk attendant set his time and off he went into the room. It should be noted here that John, like many stand-up tanners, planned to spend the time doing calf raises in order to stave off boredom.

After the bed had been running for about five minutes, the front desk attendant heard a loud boom and saw a bright flash of light erupt from the room that John was in. They rushed to the outside of the room to see what was going on and could hear John asking for help.

Unfortunately, like most experienced tanners, John had locked the door behind him before he began to undress. So John was stuck on his toes, surrounded by glass, in a pitch black “coffin.” The front desk — and now management — was at a loss. They couldn’t get in to help John. As a result, he was forced to walk as lightly as possible on a floor he knew to be covered in glass but couldn’t see.

Surprisingly, John recovered from the horror scene with fewer cuts than one would expect when an electrical surge causes 48 bulbs to explode in a running tanning bed. But no worries, in compensation for his fluke accidental trauma, he was awarded one month of free tanning.

Because the first thing you want to do after a tanning bed explodes on you is go get in another one the very next day.

—Maggie Cunningham