{"id":2972,"date":"2025-05-30T20:22:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T18:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.znovudozivota.cz\/novyWEB\/?p=2972"},"modified":"2025-09-01T21:08:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T19:08:00","slug":"miracle-on-the-track-paul-from-ireland-and-rescue-in-47-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.znovudozivota.cz\/novyWEB\/miracle-on-the-track-paul-from-ireland-and-rescue-in-47-minutes\/","title":{"rendered":"Miracle on the track: Paul from Ireland and rescue in 47 minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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During the Prague Marathon, one of the runners suffered cardiac arrest. Thanks to the exemplary activation of the chain of survival and connection to a device replacing the activity of the heart and lungs, he survived. A few days later, he was able to give interviews at a press conference.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On May 4, 2025, 55-year-old Irish runner Paul collapsed just a few hundred meters after the start of the 29th Prague Marathon. During the race, he suffered a sudden coronary event and subsequent cardiac arrest. His heart stopped functioning for a full 47 minutes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Immediate Response<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Paul was lucky enough to collapse right in front of a Prague emergency services vehicle (ZZS HMP). Paramedics began immediate resuscitation, and a doctor arrived within minutes. They administered a total of seven defibrillation shocks, but the runner’s heart did not respond. They therefore continued chest compressions using a special device during transport to the General University Hospital (VFN), which offers the possibility of bypassing cardiac arrest using artificial circulation.<\/p>\n

ECMO – hope when the heart fails<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Upon arrival at VFN, the team led by Prof. Jan B\u011blohlávek identified Paul as a suitable candidate for extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR). He was connected to an ECMO machine, which took over the function of his heart and lungs. The device is inserted into large veins and arteries via tubes, transports blood to an oxygenation unit, and then returns it to circulation. After 47 minutes without a heartbeat, his heart finally resumed beating.<\/p>\n

After connecting him to ECMO, doctors at the hospital diagnosed severe coronary artery disease, followed by coronary angioplasty with stent implantation. Within 48 hours, Paul was extubated, breathing on his own, fully conscious, and looking forward to repatriation to Ireland.<\/p>\n

All links in the chain are important – from lay resuscitation to the hospital<\/h3>\n

Paul’s story illustrates the importance of a sophisticated system – not only the professionalism of paramedics and hospital staff with advanced diagnostic and treatment methods, but also telephone-assisted resuscitation (TANR), which is initiated by 8 out of 10 lay rescuers even before the arrival of professional crews. The Czech Republic is at the forefront in Europe in this regard – Czechs are very willing to perform CPR.<\/p>\n

Paul was an athlete in perfect health before his heart attack – yet he was not spared.<\/h3>\n

Paul himself described how he has already completed two dozen marathons and has been to Prague several times. He expressed his deep gratitude. He also mentioned a touching encounter with a paramedic who began resuscitation on the track and thanked all the other participants in the rescue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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During the Prague Marathon, one of the runners suffered cardiac arrest. Thanks to the exemplary activation of the chain of survival and connection to a device replacing the activity of the heart and lungs, he survived. A few days later, he was able to give interviews at a press conference. On May 4, 2025, 55-year-old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3065,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.znovudozivota.cz\/novyWEB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2972"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.znovudozivota.cz\/novyWEB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.znovudozivota.cz\/novyWEB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.znovudozivota.cz\/novyWEB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.znovudozivota.cz\/novyWEB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2972"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.znovudozivota.cz\/novyWEB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3060,"href":"https:\/\/www.znovudozivota.cz\/novyWEB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2972\/revisions\/3060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.znovudozivota.cz\/novyWEB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.znovudozivota.cz\/novyWEB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.znovudozivota.cz\/novyWEB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.znovudozivota.cz\/novyWEB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}