On Saturday, the Athens-Clarke County Fire and Emergency Services announced that Dango Nguyen died from cancer on their official Facebook account. The former Georgia firefighter and actor in The Walking Dead was 48.
The department’s statement read, “It is with tremendous sadness that we mourn the loss of one of our former firefighters. Dango Nguyen passed away early this morning after a hard-fought battle with cancer.”
He served as a firefighter for nearly 20 years before he left to pursue a career in entertainment.
He featured on Season 3 of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” as the Governor’s bodyguard.
The statement continued, “He will always be remembered for his physical and mental strength. He was an aggressive and tenacious firefighter and first responder. He carried out his service to our community with a high level of pride in his craft, as well as a competitive spirit that made everyone else that he worked with better too.”
According to his IMDb profile, “In addition to acting and his career in public service, Nguyen trained to become a professional wrestler.” Nguyen’s childhood friend and American professional wrestler Rob Van Dam paid a tribute on his Twitter account, stating, “In high school Dango and I felt Achilles’ choice of a hero’s fate was best-exciting life, but short. Later, w/the love of family & friends, I’m sure he’d of reconsidered the option, but he lived an amazing life and rescued many people before he passed yesterday. RIP Dango Nguyen.”
