Turkey Trot Runner Who Collapsed At Finish Line Is Up And Running Again
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- A Bay Area runner is back on his feet after surviving a near-death experience in last year's Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot.
Mike Dosik was nearing the finish line of the race when he collapsed.
"I went down to a knee and collapsed," recalls Mike Dosik. "I thought I was fainting at first. I thought, 'I guess I'm fainting, I've never fainted before.'"
Mike was 49-years-old, a married father of two. He tried to eat right and exercise but nonetheless, he was having a major heart attack.
"He's turning blue. He's very sweaty," Zen Tegegne says. "He's gasping for air and he doesn't have a pulse."
Tegegne is a cardiac nurse who just happened to be running in the same race as Dosik. She started CPR and later was part of the medical team that used a defibrillator to restart his heart.
Christine Emmons is a Turkey Trot volunteer.
"We all are very grateful that Mike did make it," she says. "We were able to meet with him a few months later and tell him we were grateful we could help him out."
Dosik says he and his family are still recovering from his unexpected brush with death.
"I would let my daughter lay her head on my chest so she could hear my heart. She was definitely traumatized for several weeks after."
Dosik will be part of the opening ceremony for this year's race. He says it's an important step in his recovery.
"It's been a journey for me -- mentally and physically -- to recover from what happened. It was not something I would have ever expected. But I live with a lot more gratitude and a lot more perspective than I did before."