WRIGTHSVILLE BEACH, NC (WECT) – James Glasgow, 36 of Mt. Pleasant, SC, collapsed earlier this month while running in the Wrightsville Beach Marathon.
He went down less than a mile from the finish line and was given a 5-8 percent chance of survival.
"I was a hundred yards away from the finish line," said Glasgow more than a week after the collapse. "[I] sat down, crossed my legs and just layed back on the sidewalk."
A bystander saw Glasgow lying on the sidewalk and started doing CPR. An EMT crew came over two minutes later to take over. They paddled the runner and then took him to New Hanover Regional Medical Center where doctors used the Arctic Sun technique to keep Glasgow alive.
The Arctic Sun technology was introduced to NHRMC in 2006. They use the device to reduce body temperature to 91.4 degrees Fahrenheit to preserve the brain. Only 20 percent of heart attack sufferers reach the hospital alive. Of those, about 10 percent have a chance of going home, due largely to brain death.
Glasgow doesn't remember anything about the race. He said he woke up March 24, about a week after the marathon, saw the clock in his hospital room and "was taken aback."
"It's pretty amazing," said Glasgow Tuesday. He spoke with the EMTs who saved his life just days after he collapsed and they told him he looked like a different person – in much better condition.
"I couldn't be happier – what's the worst thing that could happen now? I mean, seven days ago, I could have been gone – dead. So anything else that I look at in life is great. I'm just glad I didn't finish last," Glasgow said in a good spirits Tuesday.
Glasgow was released from the hospital March, 27 – nine days after he collapsed during the marathon.
Copyright 2012 WECT. All rights reserved.
- Log in to post comments