A former college football player suffered cardiac arrest after running a 5:15 mile on the track in early August. Dominic Fusco, 24, and five of his friends headed to the Austin High School track in Texas were attempting fast miles, according to People.
“It was nothing different than what I would do on a typical Saturday morning,” Fusco, a certified personal trainer and former Dickinson College football player, told People. “I was up and I was moving and I was feeling good.”
Fusco has run two marathons (3:20 and 3:21) and an ultramarathon, and according to his Instagram post, he has no history of heart problems. But, according to People, he was nervous about running a fast mile.
Fusco wrote that he doesn’t remember anything after his third lap of a four-lap mile. His friends told him he walked to the end of the track and started panting.
Apparently “I collapsed on the track and went into cardiac arrest. While I don’t have any recollection of anything after lap 3, apparently I tried to get back up, then collapsed again and went purple, had a seizure, and lost my pulse,” Fusco wrote on Instagram.
A firefighter happened to be at the track and jumped into action, administering CPR to Fusco while friends called an ambulance. Fusco says he was put on a ventilator and it took multiple attempts to successfully get him to breathe on his own.
Eventually Fusco was successfully taken off of the ventilator and transferred to a hospital for tests by cardiologists and electrophysiologists. He does not yet have a firm diagnosis, but healthcare professionals suspect he might have a slightly enlarged heart, according to People. He opted for an implanted defibrillator as a precaution, should this happen again.
“I have no history of heart problems. I like to think of myself as pretty darn healthy. I exercise every freaking day. I’m very particular about what I put into my body and basically I’m trying to optimize my health,” Fusco said on his podcast, Pure Ambition.
Heather is the former food and nutrition editor for Runner’s World, the author of The Runner’s World Vegetarian Cookbook, and a nine-time marathoner with a best of 3:23. She’s also proud of her 19:40 5K and 5:33 mile. Heather is an RRCA certified run coach.
