‘BIGGEST LOSER’ CONTESTANT FROM AF DIES TRAGICALLY

Written by Danny Crivello July 3, 2020

Hap Holmstead, who grew up in American Fork playing Cavemen baseball and was featured on the NBC weight-loss show “The Biggest Loser,” died tragically in a scooter accident last Friday.

His family will be celebrating Hap’s life and birthday this Sunday, July 5, at 6:30pm at the park directly behind the Holmstead home on 1112 N. 1190 E. in Am. Fork. “Please come as you are in casual dress and bring a blanket or chair to sit on,” the family said in an obituary.

Hap graduated from AF High School in 2006. With a passion for baseball, he had hoped to make it one day to the major leagues. He was on the radar of baseball teams like the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies, but the teams stopped contacting him when he decided to go on a church mission after high school rather than attend major league tryouts.

He attended the 15th season of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” dropping over 100 pounds. He went on to become a crossfit trainer, a motivational speaker and an entrepreneur. More recently, he focused on music, especially hip-hop.

“Every time I go running, I get a new hook in my head, a new verse or a new flow,” Hap said in a podcast the week before the accident. “I’ve been listening to beats instrumental constantly.”

On Friday, June 26th, Hap fell off an electric scooter near 3300 S. State Street in South Salt Lake and hit his head. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition where he was later pronounced dead.

“While on his favorite motorized scooter, he flipped over it, and hit his head,” his wife said on a GoFundMe page. “A wonderful bystander called 911 to get our Hap to the hospital where he could be taken care of and we could say goodbye. He has left behind a family that loves him.”