‘Biggest Loser’ frees grieving contestant

Rike stole viewers’ hearts from the moment they heard her unforgettable story. It was the show’s first episode this season when she shared with her competitors and the viewing audience the details behind the worst day of her life.

On Oct. 13, 2006, Rike’s world was jerked upside down. That day, her husband, Rick, loaded their 5-year-old daughter, Macy, and their 18-day-old son, Caleb, into the car. Only a few miles from their home in Phalba, Texas, another driver slammed into them going 100 mph. The three Rikes were killed instantly, as was the driver who hit them.

"I was supposed to be with them, and at the last minute I wasn’t with them,” she told Access Hollywood. "No one ... can get up from that. Because nobody loved their family in the world more than I loved mine. Nobody. They were everything I wanted in life.”

During the following 2½ years, Rike struggled with the fact that she knew her life still held meaning but felt stuck in a dark place of grieving for her lost family.

Food was a comfort, she said, and she gained nearly 50 pounds. She said she withdrew from friends and family and lost the ability to dream.

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