The late Mat Tarzan proudly posing with pictures of his heyday as a bodybuilder. - File pix
GEORGE TOWN: A popular bodybuilder in Penang, Ahmad Ali, 84, or better known as Mat Tarzan died at the Penang Hospital on Tuesday after falling into a coma following a road accident in Bayan Baru three days ago.
His second son, Amzah, 32, said his father passed away at 5.30am at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
"My father who was riding a motorcycle was involved in an accident on Saturday at Bukit Gambir after returning from a nephew's wedding feast.
"He was going down the hill in the area when he collided with a car which caused him to fall and injure his head and right hand," Amzah said at the hospital's Forensic Unit.
According to Amzah, his father was a jovial person and had won the Mr Penang title several times in the 50s and 60s.
Ahmad had travelled all over the country to display his great strength and prowess, including walking on glass shards, bending iron rods with his neck and wrestling with a python.
He was given the title Mat Tarzan in 1958 by Penang's first Chief Minister Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee.
Ahmad leaves behind wife Julinah Abdullah, 68, and five children.
Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon paid his last respects to Ahmad at the Hashim Yahaya Mosque here before his body was laid to rest at the Muslim cemetery in Jalan Perak after Zohor prayers. - BERNAMA
