A staff member at the venue where Bob Saget played his final show said the comedian told her he was not feeling well and had trouble hearing, hours before he was found dead in an Orlando hotel room.
Rosalie Cocci, who is on staff at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall in Florida, said Saget told some of the staff he was suffering from long-term COVID-19 effects and was having issues with his hearing, People.com reported.
Cocci told Orange County police in a phone interview that she heard Saget say before his show that he wasn’t feeling well, but that he was trying to get ready for the event.
“I did hear him say, ‘I don’t feel good, but I’m ready to do the show. This is what I do this for.’ He kinda seemed like he was talking himself up,” Cocci said of Saget.
Saget was COVID-19 positive when he died. He had tested positive for the virus in the weeks before his death.
“He stated himself that ... it was taking his body a long time to get over [COVID],” Cocci said. “He said that his hearing had been off and that was the case that night. He was asking the sound guys to turn everything up,” according to the recording.
“He said he had been sick the night before, he said he had a sore throat, that he was happy he had lozenges for the stage,” Cocci said.
She added later, “Mr. Saget’s soundcheck lasted a while.”
Cocci said Saget had asked to have Red Bull, Diet Coke and regular Coke in his dressing room, but as far as she knew, he drank none of it. “Not even water,” she said.
Saget died after he suffered accidental head trauma, according to Chief Medical Examiner Joshua Stephany. He also had slight swelling and a small bruise to the corner of his left eye, WFTV reported.
He was found dead in an Orlando hotel room on Jan. 9. Authorities say they believe Saget hit his head on “something hard covered by something soft,” such as a carpeted floor or the bed’s padded headboard.
On Tuesday, photos taken as part of the investigation into Saget’s death were released by law enforcement authorities.
The photos were part of the full report on his death. They were released a week after his family was granted a permanent injunction to block the release of certain other documents and photos that were part of the investigation.
A Florida judge blocked the release of 90 of the 147 photos taken during the Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigation of Saget’s death.
The remaining 57 photos of Saget’s hotel room will “not be protected by any statutory exemption,” Judge Vincent Chiu ruled last week.
The photos released Tuesday showed a bed that was still made up, a minibar area, the bathroom, the hotel room door and a “privacy” sign, among other things. One photo showed Saget’s clothing hanging in the closet.
One photo showed the thermostat, which was set to 74 degrees, and another a trash bin with discarded face masks.
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