[fatmantrying]

<b>A champion's heart receives a second chance<br><br></b>Alberto Salazar says his brush with death has brought new clarity<br>
Tuesday, July 10, 2007<br>
KEN GOE<br>
The Oregonian<br><br>
The day Alberto Salazar nearly died, he arrived at the Nike world headquarters with athletes Galen Rupp, Josh Rohatinsky and Jared Rohatinsky in tow.<br><br>
It was a Saturday, the last day in June, at first unremarkable.<br><br>
Salazar, seemingly as lean and fit as when he won three consecutive New York City Marathons in the early '80s, planned to put Rupp and the Rohatinskys through a brisk series of calisthenics and plyometric drills for an hour and then, perhaps, go for a run.<br><br>
The four were talking about the best places to eat lunch as they walked from the parking lot to soccer fields near the center of campus.<br><br>
As they reached the northwest corner of the fields, Salazar felt a sharp pain in his neck and dizziness. He went down to one knee, so if he passed out he wouldn't fall and hit his head.<br><br>
The athletes moved a few feet away to give Salazar room. Then, they saw him slump to the ground.<br><br>
"You could tell, when he fell he was out," Rupp said. "His face was super blue. We were scared. We knew we needed to get help."<br><a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/118403790855070.xml&coll=7" target="_blank">http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/ore...070.xml&coll=7</a>

 

[Nettie]

Hey, the filter at work blocks me from reading the rest, could you post it???

 

[fatmantrying]

I'm not sure of the site rules for posting whole articles???

 

[Nettie]

Oh ok...nevermind <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif">

 

[altoids]

Definitely worth the read, esp. the last paragraph!

 

[fatmantrying]

Nettie, check your PM's.

 

[augie09]

Rupp dialed 9-1-1 on his cell phone. Josh Rohatinsky dashed into an adjacent fitness center asking for help and a phone. Jared Rohatinsky ran toward the east end of the fields, where the Xtreme Sports football camp was being conducted, to look for a trainer.<br>
Louis Barahona, a combat medic with the 41st Infantry Brigade of the Oregon National Guard, was on the camp staff and rushed to help.<br>
"I found a guy laying on the ground and not doing well," Barahona said. "He was blue. He was trying to breathe, but he wasn't breathing effectively. I rolled him over and checked for his pulse. He didn't have a pulse."

 

[augie09]

By then, Doug Douglass, an emergency room doctor at Adventist Medical Center and a former University of Oregon football player who was working as a coach at the camp, had run toward the knot of people around the prone man. Together, Barahona and Douglass began CPR.<br>
They were still working on him moments later, when emergency medical technicians from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue pulled up.<br>
Salazar didn't have a consistent heartbeat. The EMTs brought out the defibrillator. They placed the paddles on Salazar and jolted him. Nothing. They jolted him again. Nothing. They jolted him again. Nothing. When they got there, I thought he's finally going to make it through this," Rupp said. "But after they shocked him a couple times, I was really scared. It was like watching your dad die."<br>
The fourth time the EMTs put the paddles on Salazar's chest and shocked him, his heart finally began beating.<br>
Heart attacks are the leading killer of U.S. men and women, sometimes striking those who appear too young and healthy to have cause for concern.

 

[augie09]

i got your back <img alt="icon_salut.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/icon_salut.gif"><br><br>
lol didn't see that.

 

[Nettie]

I haven't gotten a PM...

 

[Nettie]

Ok, I got the Try 2 PM, but that wasn't the end was it?

 

[fatmantrying]

Yep, had to be sent in two because of length.

 

[Nettie]

Ok. I got the rest of it! Thanks!