Runner collapses during the NYC Marathon. Firefighter’s quick action saves his life

Runner collapses during the NYC Marathon. Firefighter’s quick action saves his life
It was an unseasonably warm day for the NYC Marathon this past November, but Daniel Gottesmann had been training 26.2-mile run for three months and he felt confident the heat wouldn't be a problem. As he ran, he began to feel “extremely thirsty.” At mile 11, he collapsed. Lucky for him, New York Firefighter Ryan Dillon was watching the marathon nearby.

“He started going in and out of consciousness,” Dillion, 31, of Brooklyn, tells TODAY.com. “When I saw him go out, I just immediately started pumping.” Thanks to Dillion’s quick efforts, Gottesmann survived. They two reconnected at the bar near where Gottesmann collapsed.

“Upon meeting Daniel, I was extremely nervous,” Dillon says. “You don’t really get to meet the people you make a difference in their lives.”

Unusual feeling while running leads to collapse

Last year, Gottesmann, 33, of Brooklyn ran a marathon in the Hamptons and has run several half marathons. Leading up to the NYC Marathon, which he ran with his wife, Gottesmann ran almost every day and even had some long training runs exceeding 11 miles. He felt healthy as he trained.

“I felt well,” he tells TODAY.com. “I never felt anything like I was feeling during the marathon itself.”

As Gottesmann started running he noticed it felt “a little bit tougher.”

“I felt like I’m not getting into my rhythm that I usually get after three or four miles,” he explains. “I felt like I was putting in more effort to keep the pace that I wanted to keep during the run.”

He also felt parched and wondered if the heat and the fact that he didn’t have a water bottle on him contributed to this.

“In training usually, I run with a bottle of water,” Gottesmann says. “Every water station that I got through I had to drink two cups of water. I felt extremely thirsty and felt like I’m going to need to put more effort into keeping my typical pace.”

Each mile felt harder to Gottesmann. Miles eight, nine and 10 became harder and harder for him.

“It didn’t concern me from a health perspective,” he says. “I didn’t feel like I was about to faint.”

By mile 10, Gottesmann couldn’t remember anything. He just remembers entering Williamsburg, where Dillon and his wife were watching the race outside a bar. They were looking for one of Dillion’s coworkers to run by when someone told Dillon that a runner had collapsed.

“I ran over there and I saw Daniel. They had got him in a chair, and I ran down the block to go find medical help,” Dillon says. “When I came back up the block he was in the chair, basically in and out of consciousness.”  

It looked like Gottesmann started choking on his saliva, so Dillon laid him on the ground.

“He started turning blue and I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, I think he’s choking on something,’” Dillon recalls. “I turn him over to his side and gave him a pat on the back. He throws up and he opened his eyes.”

Gottesmann soon lapsed back into unconsciousness and Dillon began CPR compressions.

“When I saw him close his eyes and go out, I just started pumping,” Dillon says. “I didn’t have any medical equipment.”

Even though Dillon is trained to help in emergencies, it felt tougher without his equipment with him. The 30 minute wait for EMS felt grueling for the firefighter.

“We kept him warm because he was a little cold because he was in shock,” Dillon says. “We just waited for EMS to show up and kept him conscious, at least somewhat.”

Gottesmann remembers none of this. He does recall waking in an ambulance and wondering what happened. He didn’t have his phone with him so he couldn’t call his wife or anyone to let them know what happened. While she was running, they were at difference paces and she was unaware he collapsed.

“I just arrived at the hospital. The first two, three, four hours, I was as weak as it gets. It didn’t feel good to move my body or open my eyes or absorb information,” Gottesmann says. “After being connected to an IV for a couple hours. I started to feel better.”

Doctors ran a slew of tests to understand what happened to Gottesmann. When his wife finished the marathon in three and a half hours, she noticed her husband hadn’t finished and called her dad. He was the couple’s emergency contact and knew that Gottesmann was in the hospital and she came to visit him. Gottesmann stayed for a week because doctors wanted to make sure that his health stabilized.

“Some of the things you can find in bloodwork or blood stream … were elevated and the doctor is wanting to see them come down,” he says. “It was mostly things involving the liver and heart.”

Doctors suspected that Gottesmann experienced rhabdomyolysis, also known simply as rhabdo, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This potentially fatal condition occurs when damaged muscles discharge proteins and electrolytes into the blood, which can lead to kidney and heart problems. While anyone can develop rhabdo, it occurs more often when people are exercising or engaging in strenuous tasks in the heat. It often affects firefighters, military members, construction worker and athletes, according to the CDC.

The CDC says symptoms include:

• Muscle pain
• Urine that looks tea or soda colored
• Weakness or exhaustion

Doctors diagnosed it by taking a blood test to look for creatine kinase or creatine phosphokinase.

“The body needs to work extra time to get ride of those proteins mostly that were there now in the blood,” Gottesmann says. “Once the values got to a point where the doctors felt good, they sent me home.”

He’s had several follow-up appointments to make sure he’s still healthy.

“I’m feeling good today,” he says.

Meeting properly

Dillon continued watching the marathon, hoping that the paramedics effectively treated the stranger he helped. He had no idea that Gottesmann needed to spend so much time in the hospital to recover. Though, as a firefighter he often doesn’t hear what happens to people he helps.

“I didn’t specially know about Ryan until my wife and I went to the bar next to where I collapsed,” Gottesmann says. “Only then we learned that some guy helped me.”

He wanted to thank that person and asked the bartender if she could help find him.

“The bartender contacted my wife,” Dillon says. “She was like, ‘That guy from the marathon was looking for you guys. He got out of the hospital.’ We were like, ‘What?’” 

Dillon felt shocked that Gottesmann was in the hospital for so long and he agreed to meet him. The two felt anxious before the meeting.

“I was kind of nervous but more excited to meet Ryan,” Gottesmann says. “He’s so humble and such a decent good human being.”

Dillon also didn’t know what to expect.

“I did everything that I could until the actual health professionals got there and you can do everything right, medically wise, and still come out with a loss. That’s why it’s nerve wracking,” Dillon says. “The whole thing was amazing.”

Gottesmann said this experience taught him to pay better attention to what his body’s telling him. He feels grateful for the kindness he received.

“I certainly don’t know what would have happened to me if it hadn’t been for Ryan,” he says.

As for Dillon, he thinks anyone can do what he did.

“Just (make) an effort to try to help,” he says. “Just be a decent person. (A) human life is the most valuable thing in the world. If you see somebody struggling and you aren’t, help them out.”