Texas Roadhouse CEO Kent Taylor Took His Life After Battling Severe Tinnitus Caused by COVID-19

Sad but important it got press. Seems tinnitus was the cause.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kent Taylor, founder and CEO of Louisville-based Texas Roadhouse, took his own life Thursday after struggling with the debilitating repercussions of COVID-19, his family said.

"After a battle with post-Covid related symptoms, including severe tinnitus, Kent Taylor took his own life this week," the family said in a company-issued statement Friday. "Kent battled and fought hard like the former track champion that he was, but the suffering that greatly intensified in recent days became unbearable.

"But in true Kent fashion, he always found a silver lining to help others. Most recently, he committed to fund a clinical study to help members of the military who also suffer with tinnitus."

Source:
Louisville-based Texas Roadhouse CEO Kent Taylor took his life after COVID-19 struggle​

 

Just goes to show how this disease can destroy even those who have it all. We need a cure ASAP.

 

Texas Roadhouse founder Kent Taylor died by suicide after suffering from severe 'post-Covid related symptoms'

Did anyone read this?

So disheartening, my heart aches for him and his loved ones. To all of you out there considering similar course of action: please hang on a little longer, I have faith in you, in us!

Rest in peace Wayne Kent Taylor​

 

Damn... all that money he had, and couldn't wait a little bit for FX-322 and other treatments...

From the article it looks like his tinnitus became severe only in the recent days. I wish he could have postponed the suicide. But sometimes it doesn't work like that. A sudden increase in tinnitus levels can mean sleepless nights, debilitating anxiety and an urgent need to exit. The mind might not be thinking rationally at all.

Fuck you tinnitus for taking yet another life. Tonight I will be thinking of his children and grandchildren.

RIP KENT

 

He probably didn’t know there are potential treatments coming. He probably thought there was no way out after an expensive ENT told him to get used to it.

 

To GBB - Thanks very much for finding and posting this.

As Charlie said in the Epilogue of "Death of a Salesman", "Nobody dast (dare) blame this man."

We are all fundamentally isolated from each other, and no one can enter into anyone else's consciousness to finally determine what constitutes an overwhelming, unbearable state of being.

I have read of tinnitus cases so severe that it blocks out all external sound and renders the sufferer deaf from a truly excruciating level of noise.

Is it the case that (like Shingles) the COVID-19 virus migrates through the Eustachian Tube to the middle / inner ear / aural nerve (which, I believe, is how I got this from a cold)?

I wonder if his decision was in part motivated by every ENT Doctor's flat, optionless, emotionally guillotine-dropping response that there is nothing that can be done for this.

It interests me that the British News Media frequently reports on suicides from severe tinnitus, but this is the first instance I have encountered of the American Media having done so (perhaps because it is COVID-19 related and regarding a prominent person).

I am very much torn between never wishing this malady on anyone but hoping that the more we see an increase of reports of this, the more motivated Medical Science will be to make the necessary concerted effort for a cure (which is a damn shame that all of these new casualties is what it will take).

 

I saw this while eating lunch. Thoughts and prayers to the family. So many diseases in this world with no acceptable solutions. Watching my mother die of Alzheimer's. Suffering myself from OCD, tinnitus and benzo withdrawal.

If you are thinking about suicide, please reach out. There are people that care.

 

I thought this was interesting, and sad.

Before coronavirus I used to somewhat regularly go to a local Texas Roadhouse. The staff there told me the owner had forgone his pay to help take care of the staff, they spoke highly of him even before that without having interaction with him aside from an annual event some of the staff went to.

Apparently he had tinnitus, and according the the article after he recovered from coronavirus his tinnitus had a significant spike that I'd guess contributed to his decision. He donated money to support tinnitus research before taking his own life. May he rest in peace.

 

Kent Taylor, Texas Roadhouse founder and CEO, dies at 65

A deep sense of sadness came over me while reading that article, he seemed like such a good person. His restaurant chain was/is great too. My dad likes to go there on his birthday since the food is good and it has a fun atmosphere.

 

So sad to hear this...

 

it's hard to admit, but the truth is until more people are suffering with this no one will give a damn about pushing hard on treatments no matter the avenue or mechanism, as hard as we pushed to vaccinate COVID-19 (but far more difficult). That might be some good coming out of COVID-19, once the post-effectual tinnitus starts to really take hold.

Or more people will be left to suffer and no headway made, because higher valued healthcare workers and researchers got vaccinated first and so are much less likely to have gotten hit with symptoms.

 

People need to stop gaslighting us on our suffering, especially doctors, specialists and people who are not bothered by their tinnitus who think they can talk for us.

Just because one person experiences tinnitus and has no problem with it doesn’t mean it is the same for someone else, especially if they have reactive tinnitus or suffer from hyperacusis as well.

I just wish people could understand and stop gaslighting us.

 

100% this. If only he knew that in just a couple of years were going to have some real treatments for this condition; this is on the ENT.

 

Nobody knows that for sure. There is still a lot that can go wrong.

 

According to Wallmine.com, Taylor’s net worth was estimated to be at least $600 million.

And still could not find relief.

RIP.

 

Sad to read this story. Sympathies to his family.

 

Sad. Severe tinnitus is no joke.

 

Meanwhile everyone online:

- “I’ve had tinnitus all my life I can’t imagine being suicidal over it.”

- “Why didn’t he just see a doctor?”

- “Sounds sketchy. Someone should interview his family. Just tinnitus??”

- “The article said tinnitus was ONE of his symptoms. I doubt it was just the tinnitus that led to his actions.”

And then of course the COVID-19 skeptics who are angry and think this is fear mongering and COVID-19 has nothing to do with tinnitus.

Horrible. Poor guy was suffering and the internet still minimizes it to depression.

 

To Orions Pain:

Very astute. Also, the news reports (apparently for those who have never heard of tinnitus) quite cavalierly refer to it as "ringing in the ears", as if it is no more than a distant old time phone sound.

 

Yeah, if anyone ever tries to tell you tinnitus isn't a real problem you can point them to this.

I wonder if he was doing any treatment - meds - or looked into potential treatments like Neuromod's Lenire. It'd be a damn shame if he didn't. And the most damnable part is that yeah, when you have it bad and it starts like that you are most definitely suicidal. I didn't think I was going to make it. And if wasn't for the drugs I probably wouldn't be here right now.

There needs to be an easier more recognizable way for people who have this nightmare thrust upon them to find help - like we do here.

 

Actually we do. Neuromod's Lenire may not work for everyone but it does work for most - to varying degrees - and even if it only lowers the tinnitus, that's substantial and real. Dr. Shore's device will be here in a year or two most likely. Meds like FX-322 and some other stuff are in the pipeline. And there's most likely other stuff in the works we have not heard of yet. The World Tinnitus Congress has been an annual thing now since 2017? Yes, help can't come fast enough but it's really starting to come.

 

From a Washington Post article:

"Taylor found one last charitable outlet in recent weeks, his family said: a pledge to pay for a clinical study for military members who also suffer from tinnitus."​

 

The sad part is he probably did kill himself based just off tinnitus. I had COVID-19 and I know for a fact the symptoms aren't that bad. The worst thing on this earth is severe tinnitus and if that's what he had, that should be his cause of death. I think it's crazy they are calling this a COVID-19 death.

 

I commented on the New York Times article on Facebook saying that severe tinnitus is one of most hardcore ailments to deal with (and that a treatment is urgently needed ASAP), and I got attacked by random people saying you know nothing, you should get this or that malady and then compare. Like it was a competition between sufferers.

 

Yeah I agree. Just more evidence that people don’t understand the suffering this brings. They can’t possibly comprehend that it’s not just a “mild ringing only heard in silence” for everyone.

 

Fuck them. They don’t know shit about our suffering.

 

In general people seem to view anything that can kill you, or something like the loss of the limb the worst thing that can possibly happen. And yes, those things are incredibly sad and tough no doubt, but any condition whether that’s tinnitus, or any sort of chronic pain that tortures you without relief is up there with being absolutely terrible. The invisible aspect of it adds on to the suffering.

 

Yeah. It puzzled me that people attacked me on some "taxonomic basis", like they assumed that my comment meant to downplay others' suffering. Saying that severe tinnitus is one of the worst ailments does not imply (in any possible logical system) that chronic pain or trigeminal neuralgia are a walk in the park...

 

That's not an argument, that's just pessimism.