On the day before Feldman and Michael Mileham had swam to a small island in a lake in Mexico City where a local was selling lobster and coconuts. Mileham claimed he got shellfish poisoning which also caused Feldman's death. Mel Brooks added that "smoking sometimes 5 packs of cigarettes daily, drinking copious amounts of black coffee, and a diet rich in eggs and dairy products" may have contributed to Feldman's death.