Cardiac Athletes
Running After a Heart Attack
With the support of strangers who became friends
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of stories highlighting just a few members of the global network, Cardiac Athletes. (© Cardiac Athletes 2020 |All Right Reserved) Three runners/cyclists are included in this article. Their stories contain some descriptions of their cardiac event. If you recognize any of these symptoms in yourself, or a loved one, please seek immediate medical attention.
When a Massachusetts runner had a heart attack after a 10k in August 2016, he thought maybe his running days were behind him.
He’d lost consciousness repeatedly in a friend’s driveway, but surmised he had heat exhaustion due to the humidity and high temps he’d just raced through. But he went to the local emergency room just in case, and ended up staying. After an attempted angioplasty was deemed too risky at that facility, he was transferred to a larger Boston hospital to undergo the procedure.
As he recovered from having three stents placed in his heart to clear one 80% blockage, and one 100% blockage, he tried to picture his life without running. His social life revolved around training for races with other runners, running as many as 70 miles a week. At 45, he’d run four Boston Marathons…
