Iconic 'Thumbs Down Guy' details scary near-death experience earlier this month
Gary Dunaier quickly rose to internet fame in 2017 when cameras caught him with an epic “thumbs down” during the New York Yankees game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Citi Field.
Naturally, the “Thumbs Down Guy” became an internet meme that still actively circulates social media today. According to Giphy, the popular GIF website, that GIF has been viewed more than 155 million times.
It’s truly one of the best memes to come out of a sporting event in recent memory.
On Wednesday, though, Dunaier detailed a scary medical emergency that nearly took his life earlier this month.
The 56-year-old had a varicose vein burst in his leg at his Queens apartment on June 6, and he started drifting in and out of consciousness.
“I live alone and was able to get to the phone and call 911,” Dunaier told USA Today. “The next thing I knew, I found myself lying on the floor and blood was pouring over the floor. I couldn’t get to the door to unlock it, so the rescue crew must have broken down the door to get in. I heard things falling onto the floor.
“I came really close to dying.”
Dunaier had just one liter of blood left in his body when he got to the hospital, per the report, which is about one fifth of what normally circulates through the human body.
Dunaier, however, was discharged from the hospital after a five-day stay and returned to work this week. He launched a GoFundMe page this week to help cover hospital expenses, too.
It’s been nearly two years since the iconic moment at Citi Field — which played host to the rescheduled Yankees-Rays game due to Hurricane Irma — and Dunaier threw up the thumbs-down gesture following a Todd Frazier three-run homer. Still, the New York Mets season-ticket holder is in awe at how often he gets recognized at games.
Thankfully, Dunaier will be able to throw up the “thumbs down” again the next time he makes it out to Citi Field.
“It’s been almost going to be two years now and still I’m still in stunned disbelief at how this (fame) happened and I still have no grasp of what the thumbs down thing means to people,” Dunaier told USA Today. “People come up to me and say, ‘Thank you for what you did.’ I don’t know what I did.
“If people want to get selfies with me at the ballpark, I’m glad to do it if that makes their experience at a game more enjoyable.”
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