Redemption run: Nanaimo marathoner returns to race where his heart literally stopped
Running a half-marathon is usually about some type of goal. Getting in shape, or maybe beating your fastest time.
For one Vancouver Island runner, this weekend's return of the Royal Victoria Marathon came with a different goal – not dropping dead at the finish line.
“I walked right up and right beside me was a couple of stretchers," said Jason DeRuiter. "I said, ‘Ha ha, not this time.'"
In 2019, DeRuiter finished the Royal Victoria Marathon in an impressive time, and then his heart ceased to beat.
At the finish line of the pre-pandemic race, which was cancelled in 2020, DeRuiter wandered into a medical tent feeling odd, dropped to the ground and in medical terms, died.
Doctors told him his heart stopped beating for an incredible seven minutes.
His medical emergency happened, if it can, in a perfect place.
An emergency doctor was steps away and immediately began life-saving measures.
He was rushed to the hospital and underwent a successful recovery where doctors found nothing significantly wrong with the middle-aged Nanaimo man.
The clean bill of health came as the world plunged into a pandemic and races were cancelled. His redemption would have to wait.
This past weekend, his time finally came.
“Felt good, felt strong, ran through and felt great,” said DeRuiter at the finish line on Sunday.
Returning from its pandemic cancellation, the Royal Victoria Marathon looked a little different than when Jason last saw it.
The route was reduced to a half-marathon instead of a full due to road closure issues, and masks would be required at the start and finish.
“Water stations were giving out full bottles,” said race director Cathy Noel.
“All those little details had to be adapted.”
Thousands crossed the finish line, but few with the gusto of DeRuiter.
His cardiac comeback came in the form of an impressive one-hour-and-forty-minute finish. Just three minutes shy of his fastest half-marathon time.
DeRuiter does have a souvenir from his 2019 ordeal.
Doctors implanted a small defibrillator in his chest and connected it to his heart in case it stopped beating.
Luckily this time, Jason’s heart kept right on ticking as he received his race medal. A major improvement from his last marathon in Victoria, where race staff delivered his hardware bedside at the Royal Jubilee Hospital.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.