Marathon death: response criticized
A young man died of heart failure last summer during the marathon, and now the coroner’s report is in. It mentions disorganization and poor communication as reasons why an ambulance didn’t arrive till too late. But the Gazette story says Patrick Neely suffered from congenital heart disease. If someone with such a condition pushes himself to the limit, I’m not sure anyone else should be blamed for the outcome.
Update: the man’s father accuses the organization of gross negligence.
Michael Black 10:00 on 2020-06-30 Permalink
But the report talks about problems. If someone else had died, those problems were still there. How can the organizatiin improve things?
Kate 10:26 on 2020-06-30 Permalink
After that race, Lassonde ended its sponsorship and the director stepped down, so it seems likely that if a new marathon ever materializes, it will be run differently by different people.
EmilyG 11:26 on 2020-06-30 Permalink
People who are not in perfect health shouldn’t be treated poorly.
Kate 11:49 on 2020-06-30 Permalink
I did not say they should. But google for “marathon waiver” and you’ll find a lot of examples. To participate, everyone has to sign a document attesting they know the risks and are in good health.
This doesn’t excuse the organizers last year of everything. They should have tested the emergency communications better and made sure everyone was on top of procedures.
EmilyG 13:37 on 2020-06-30 Permalink
Yeah.
Blork 15:35 on 2020-06-30 Permalink
As Michael Black says, it’s not about this one guy, but about safety and procedures in general. For example, I heard one person (some kind of expert, I think) saying that 90% of marathon heart attacks happen in the last couple of kilometres. So if you’re going to have defibrillators (and you ARE going to have defibrillators!) then that is where you put them. Not stuck somewhere far away where it takes 12 minutes to get it to the scene. Etc. etc. etc.
Alison Cummins 17:09 on 2020-06-30 Permalink
I think if you have a cardiac condition and you sign a waiver, you’re thinking “This is a summer marathon. Even if I have a heart attack, they have defibrillators and ambulances on standby. I’ll probably be ok. I can’t live my life worrying about ‘what if.'”
You aren’t thinking, “If I have a heart attack, any first responders will be untrained and unequipped and unable to call for help and I will be dead before an ambulance can get to me. This is not the marathon for me.”
Kate 09:03 on 2020-07-01 Permalink
Nonetheless, you’re undertaking a challenge that pushes even the healthiest to their limits. If you do so, knowing you harbour a relevant physical weakness, you’re taking a bigger risk than others.