On December 4, 2009, Edward "Eddie" Fatu was hospitalized after his wife found him not breathing with blood coming out of his nose. He was rushed to a local hospital in Houston, Texas and was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit. It was reported that Fatu had suffered a heart attack and was put on life support, until the decision was made to take him off of it. Fatu was presumed dead around 6:00 PM EST, after suffering a second heart attack; he was 36 years old.
Articles posted by Sports Illustrated, the New York Daily News, and The Washington Post during the weekend of August 30, 2007, named Fatu as one of a number of superstars to have purchased pharmaceuticals from an online pharmacy,a violation of the WWE "Talent Wellness" program. Fatu specifically was said to have received somatropin, a growth hormone, between July and December 2006, after the "No drugs from online sources" rule was instituted. Fatu violated this rule again in 2009 and due to his unwillingness to seek rehabilitation, was released from his WWE contract.
Fatu was born in American Samoa, a member of the famous Anoa'i wrestling family. His mother, Vera, was the sister of Afa and Sika of the Wild Samoans, and his later Umaga gimmick would be compared to their "wildness". His two older brothers, Sam (better known as Tonga Kid and Tama) and Solofa Jr. (better known as Rikishi), are also professional wrestlers who have achieved success of their own. Dwayne Johnson, known in wrestling as The Rock, is his cousin.