Reality TV ‘Rob & Big‘ star Christopher “Big Black” Boykin made everyone smile, laugh and say “do work, son” for over five seasons in new shows and reruns on MTV. In 2017, the loveable Boykin passed away. But what made it even more heartbreaking was that he was only 45 years old.
If you ever watched the MTV reality series Rob & Big, then you knew how unpredictably funny he and the show was.
The reality series follows professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek and his bodyguard, Big Black. The two live together in the Hollywood Hills and hatch crazy plans. One week they decide to teach Meaty the bulldog to skateboard and another they buy a miniature horse that they plan to keep in their backyard. Full of practical jokes and funny stunts, Rob and Big are complete opposites who share with viewers their odd lives as best friends.
‘Rob & Big’ quickly established a digital fanbase, becoming one of MTV’s fastest and best-selling shows on iTunes. Season one was the second most downloaded MTV series on iTunes behind “The Hills.”
In the show’s 2008 season, Boykin set two Guinness world records: one for peeling and eating three bananas in one minute, and another for eating five powdered doughnuts in two minutes, 45 seconds. Boykin joined Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory in 2009 and remained until the show’s final episode in 2015. He also appeared on three episodes of Dyrdek’s show Ridiculousness, which premiered in 2011.
The first full season of Rob & Big reached over 70 million total viewers and ranked #1 in its time period among 12-34 year-olds.
Boykin had a defibrillator implant for his heart. In early May 2017, he was hospitalized in Plano, Texas, and was placed on a heart monitor. On May 9, his heart stopped and the hospital staff spent 30 minutes trying to revive him. Although initial reports did not mention an official cause of death, Boykin’s heart failure was the result of a heart attack.
At 6’6″ and 416 pounds, Christopher Boykin was known as “Big Black” — “to state the obvious,” he says. Born in Chicago, IL, but growing up in Mississippi, Big Black was a former U.S. Navy Serviceman and had over 10 years of Executive Protection experience. He was been embraced by the skateboarding community since teaming up with Rob and DC Shoes and was recognized everywhere he went. Much like Rob, Big Black also has an entrepreneurial spirit, creating his own clothing line and multiple other businesses.
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What’s Going On with Heart Attacks and Black Men?
Although heartbreaking, Big Black’s passing isn’t the only story about Black men and heart attacks.
According to a new study, about 1 in 100 black men and women could develop heart failure before age 50—a strikingly higher rate than for white people. But heart failure is often preceded years earlier by risk factors that can be prevented or treated, like high blood pressure and obesity. These findings highlight the importance of targeting these risk factors in young black people.
Heart failure affects about 5 million people nationwide and leads to about 300,000 deaths each year. The condition usually develops over a decade or more, as the heart gradually loses its ability to pump enough blood through the body. Its leading causes in the U.S. are coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. Heart failure doesn’t mean that your heart has stopped or is about to stop working. However, it’s a serious condition that requires medical care.
Although scientists have long known that the risk of heart failure climbs sharply with age in older adults, less is known about its incidence before age 50. To learn more about heart failure in a younger age group, scientists analyzed data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, which is funded by NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). CARDIA includes 5,115 black and white men and women (52% black, 55% women) who were 18 to 30 years old at the start of the study in 1985 and 1986. Physical exams were conducted every few years, and telephone interviews every 6 months for about 20 years.
In the March 19, 2009, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers reported that heart failure developed in 27 study participants, all but 1 of whom were black. Heart failure developed at an average age of 39 among the black participants.
For black participants 18 to 30 years old, the researchers identified several independent predictors of heart failure 10 to 20 years later. These included higher blood pressure, greater body mass index (a ratio of weight to height), lower HDL (or “good” cholesterol) and chronic kidney disease.
By the tenth year of the study, when participants were between 28 and 40 years old, almost 90% of participants who later developed heart failure had untreated or poorly controlled high blood pressure. Black participants who developed heart failure were also more likely to be obese as young adults or have diabetes and chronic kidney disease. In addition, a decade before developing heart failure, they were more likely to already have systolic dysfunction, an impairment in the heart muscle’s ability to contract. Heart attack, drug use and alcohol use were not associated with the risk of heart failure.
Reflections from His Co-Star and Best Friend
His skateboarder co-star and friend took to Instagram to express his grief over the loss of his best friend.
“My heart is broken. I don’t want to write this post. I don’t want to believe that this is reality. I am so thankful for you. We truly were brothers that lived an unexpected unforgettable adventure. I just can’t fathom that it would end so suddenly. You will forever be in my heart,” he wrote.
He later added a photo of Big Black with his son Kodah, who was born last year.
“I am so thankful for this moment..thank you for being an amazing human being and brother,” Rob captioned the photo.
