Turns out he had a disease that caused his body tissues to die.
Dennis
There was no way not to click into this thread title. But oh my God, this is so sad. What a terrible thing to happen to this poor guy. Geez, with all that we know about this world and medicine and science, there are still weird little things that can kill us.
RIP, Dude. 
Poor bastard, what a horrid way to die.
A relative of a friend passed away last year under similar circumstances. There are no loving farewells when this happens.
Reminds me a little bit of “The Toxic Lady” incident:
That stinks.
One of the references on that Wiki page is " Adams, Cecil (22 March 1996). “What’s the story on the “toxic lady”?”. The Straight Dope."
Miss Shields: And, don’t you all feel bad for laughing.