Dr. Ryan Chiu and Tuan Pham.Photo:Long Beach Memorial
Long Beach Memorial
Tuan Pham, from San Pedro, is an avid runner and signed up for the 39th Long Beach Half Marathon with his 16-year-old son Josh. The 47-year-old had already run six half marathons in the past three years. With two miles left in the race, Pham was excited to meet up with his son, who had already crossed the finish line, when he suddenly collapsed and went into cardiac arrest.
“All I remember was feeling good and then waking up in the hospital,” Pham toldABC7. “I felt great. I have no idea what happened.”
Cardiac arrest— also known as sudden cardiac arrest — is the abrupt loss of heart function, resulting from a problem with the heart’s electrical system, according to theMayo Clinic. This disrupts the heart’s pumping action and stops blood flow through the body.
Luckily for Pham, Dr. Ryan Chiu, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Long Beach Memorial, was leaving a restaurant when he witnessed the medical emergency. Pham was unresponsive and had no pulse so Chiu stepped in and immediately started CPR.
“I was just walking out when the marathon was being run there at Ocean Boulevard and I saw one of the runners stumble in front of me, and collapse on the ground,” Chiu told the outlet.
“There was some divine intervention. I mean somebody put us there together,” Pham added.
Petrea Alexandru/Getty Images
While performing CPR, Chiu called Long Beach Memorial to assemble a team to perform emergency surgery. When an ambulance arrived for Pham, Chiu got in his car and followed them to the hospital.
Cardiac arrest can be fatal if proper steps aren’t taken immediately. CPR can improve the chances of survival until emergency medical assistance arrives. More than 356,000 cardiac arrests occur outside a hospital in the United States each year, according to theAmerican Heart Association.
Pham, who worked out consistently, told theLong Beach Postthat although both his parents died in their 50s from heart disease, he believed his healthy lifestyle would keep him from having the same heart problems.
As someone who typically prefers to run alone, Pham admitted that he’s in awe of the coincidence.
“I can’t believe the one guy, the first guy, to see me fall, to show up and give me help, was a cardiac surgeon,” he told the outlet. “What are the odds?”
“I’m not even a spiritual guy, but I think my parents saved me,” Pham added. “Just somehow, they put [Chiu] there to be there for me.”
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“I shudder to think that if we had left a little bit earlier that I would’ve never seen him go down,” Chiu said.
Now, as Pham takes time to focus on his health, he insisted that heart surgery isn’t going to hold him back, and he plans to return for next year’s race to finish the marathon.
“I’m that guy,” he boasted. “I’m going back and finishing it, the last two miles.”
Pham told the outlet that he hopes his story serves as a reminder to stay on top of your health. “Just awareness that you gotta go see a doctor and get checked,” he said.
source: people.com
