Monterey Bay Half Marathon miracle: Doctor saves 2 lives while running half marathon

Monterey Bay Half Marathon miracle: Doctor saves 2 lives while running half marathon
MONTEREY, Calif. —

An incredible update to tell you about a year after the 2022 Monterey Bay Half Marathon. You may remember the story of two men having a heart attack on the course last year, and the cardiologist who happened to be in the right place at the right time, twice. Now, one year later, the three ran the half marathon together.

It's a miraculous story that's almost too good to be true. Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. The Monterey Bay Half Marathon kicks off at 7 a.m. Greg Gonzales, Michael Heilemann, and Dr. Steven Lome set out on the route.

"I felt really well. No issues whatsoever," Gonzales said. "He gets to mile three. I go, 'Oh my gosh, 10 more to go. No problem.' (That's the) last thing I remembered."

"I saw a runner collapse." Lome, a CHOMP cardiologist who happened to be steps behind him, said. "There was no pulse, and he wasn't breathing. And I thought, oh my gosh, full cardiac arrest." He started CPR, unbelievably, his first time doing it outside of the hospital.

Meanwhile, Heilemann ran by. Seeing the runner down, he remembered his father's heart attack during a race years ago.

"We saw him down and getting CPR and were saying we were hoping he was okay. And as we went, you know, we started talking about what had happened to my dad and how rare that sort of thing was," Heilemann said.

"It was the longest five minutes of my life, waiting for that defibrillator to come. But we got it there," Lome said.

"I woke up an ambulance going, 'uh oh, something happened,'" Gonzales said.

"It was a fatal arrhythmia called ventricular fibrillation. The only way for that to go away is a shock. And without a shock, you don't make it. But he woke up, we got him into the ambulance stable," Lome said. "A little frazzled, I still wasn't last place, so thought might as well just keep on running."

So, both Lome and Heilemann continued on their way. Heilemann crossed the finish line first.

"I started to feel dizzy. So I held on to the rail for a second. And then the next thing I knew, I woke up," he said.

Lome finished the race moments later.

"I threw my arms up in the air thinking, 'yay, I finished, thank goodness,'" Lome said. "And then I hear somebody say, 'we need some help over here.' And I thought to myself, 'You've got to be kidding. He probably just fainted. There's no way this is happening again.'"

But it did. Lome jumped into action for a second time that day, performing CPR to save another runner's life.

"He had no pulse. He wasn't breathing. Probably within 20-30 seconds of him collapsing, we started chest compressions and CPR once again," Lome said. "We were able to hook him up real quick and shock him within about one minute. He woke up real quick, confused, and stopped the Strava app on his watch, so he could record the time, and tried to get up."

Heilemann said, "It was hard to believe. I had no symptoms. I felt fine, the whole race."

"It's really mind-blowing. When you look at the research, they say about 1 in 200,000 race participants in a half marathon or marathon have a cardiac arrest. There's about 5,000 runners there. That makes it about a 1 in 40 chance of it happening once and 1 in 1,600 chance of it happening twice in a race. But what are the odds of them both surviving. Only 30% of people survive. And the same cardiologist literally right behind them both-- absolutely crazy," Lome said.

Both runners were in shock learning the news.

"Really miraculous and an incredible coincidence," Heilemann said. "I believe something greater than me put me in that spot. And why? I don't know."

When asked how has that moment and this experience shifted their perspective when they wake up every day?

"Every day is a new day. A fun day. A challenge. But I'm here because of Dr. Lome, no doubt. And the neurosurgeon," Gonzales said.

"Focus on the things and understand what's really important to you and make sure that you have time for that," Heilemann said.

Both were given a second chance at life. And with that second chance, an opportunity to share their story and spread the word about heart health.

"They both changed their diet, they're exercising, they're doing great. We hope to use this to inspire other people to learn CPR, eat healthy, and to do the right things — because prevention of heart disease is way more powerful than trying to fight heart disease after it happens," Lome said.

And now a second chance to run and finish the Monterey Bay Half Marathon, this time together.

"Finishing the race will just be a byproduct of that relationship," Gonzales said.

"This is going to be a big deal. It's a chance for them to get back out there and say, 'Hey, I know it didn't go well last time, but I'm going to beat this,'" Lome said.

"Happy that we're all going to be together and have gone through the challenge as a team," Heilemann said.