A Dublin man revealed how a fellow runner helped save his life after he collapsed during the KBC half marathon last week.
French-born Thibault Maire, 35, was nearly at the end of the race when he realised his body was giving up on him.
He said: “I know it was close to the end and I could feel I was in the red zone, pushing probably too much. Nonetheless I kept running.
“I remember trying to see the finish line in the distance but everything started to get blurry. I started to have blurry sight. I could feel my legs where getting less responsive.”
The dad-of-two collapsed to the ground, but before long help came in the form of fellow runner Andrew Dowling who immediately came to his aid.
Thibault, who works in sales at LinkedIn, added: “I do remember being helped by some runners, and the funny thing is I thought, ‘Wow, so close to the finish line and they are helping me, what about their time?’”
Welshman Andrew was running along the 12th mile when he saw someone veer off to the right side of the course.
The 34-year-old said: “This was in a really tough place to run as it was near the end of the race and going up a really steep hill.
“As I started approaching the gentleman on the floor another runner was trying to help, but didn’t understand what was happening so I then stopped as I got next to the situation to administer first aid and help Thibault who had collapsed and make him as comfortable as possible.
“A medic then arrived a few minutes later to help out and then was told to just finish the race.”
Thibault was then taken to the medical tent where he was hooked up to an IV and later was taken to Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown.
“At the hospital, I stayed maybe two hours in the A&E room where they kept monitoring my heart, blood, etc.
“They kept me overnight in Cardiology as they wanted to make sure my heart was fine, by noon the day after I was checked out and all good.”
But Thibault didn’t know who the mysterious hero who saved him was until he put up a thank you note on running and cycling app Strava.
He said: “Someone from Andrew's contacts found me and from then we exchanged a couple of messages. He has been an absolute gentleman.
“The fact that he put aside his PB to help me makes me feel very sorry and is a true sign of his sportsmanship.”
In fact, the two exchanged heartfelt messages on social media when they finally connected.
Andrew, who works as a key account manager for DHL, said he was running the marathon to raise money for Alzheimer's Research UK.
He said: “I run on behalf of Alzheimer Research UK charity as well for my Uncle George Dowling who sadly passed away when I was 14 and for a good friend of mine Louise Moore from Belfast, her dad too passed away with Alzheimers a few years back and his name is John Moore.
“I really wanted to tie in the weekend raising money for charity and have so far raised £590 (€663.99).”
You can help by donating money here.
