After Cardiac Arrest, CO Runner Finishes Race With Rescuer

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — In January 2017, Colorado Springs resident Bill Amirault ran his sixth race in the Key West Half-Marathon in Florida. A seasoned runner, Amirault never would have imagined what happened next: within a few yards to the finish line, he collapsed.

“I could see the finish line,” Amirault said. “I remember having this sensation that I was going to pass out and faint. I went to a bystander on the side and said, ‘I’m going to faint.’ And, I just blacked out.”

Three off-duty nurses — two who actually ran the race — rushed to Amirault’s side to perform CPR as paramedics were called to the scene. Amirault, a 45-year-old father to two girls, learned later that he'd gone into cardiac arrest caused by ventricular arrhythmia.

One year after that terrifying day, Amirault returned to the race with the mission to run past the finish line. Only this time, Robbie Ladd, one of the off-duty nurses who saved his life, was by his side.

“I’ve been fairly nervous about getting back into it,” said Amirault. “But it was important for me to just get through that finish line. When I told Robbie I had signed up (for the race), there wasn’t any hesitation on his end. He signed up with me.”

But it wasn’t easy finding his three rescuers.

Amirault said he searched the Internet with hope there was information about his rescuers somewhere online shortly after arriving at a Miami hospital following the 2017 race.

“The paramedics told me that three people jumped in and started doing CPR on me but they just disappeared after,” said Amirault. “I looked at newspaper articles and contacted race organizers to see if anyone knew them but couldn’t find information.”

Finally, Amirault turned to the ever-so-reliable Facebook for help. He recorded a video detailing what happened and posted it on the social media website where it was shared more than one million times.

Eventually Amirault found the three people who saved his life: Ladd of Florida, Amy Smythe of Maryland, and Lisa Vos of Illinois — all of whom just happened to be nurses. He reunited with them months later on Harry Connick Jr.’s talk show.

“I just really wanted to find them and thank them for saving my life,” Amirault said. “I didn’t want the publicity. I just wanted to meet them. It all worked out and now we’re friends.”

Amirault, who is now CPR-certified, said they plan to meet annually and will all run the Key West race in 2019. In the meantime, he is a spokesperson for the American Heart Association and is raising awareness about cardiac arrests and the importance of automated external defibrillators, which was used to get his heart pumping again.

Amirault is also thankful for his luck that three off-duty nurses happened to be in the same spot where he fell to the ground.

“I am just so thankful from the bottom of my heart,” said Amirault, who is now the founder of the nonprofit Move4Charity.org. “I am thankful they jumped in and responded and didn’t wait for someone else to come by. I’m very fortunate they are all nurses.”

— Courtesy photos of Bill Amirault and Robbie Ladd with family at the Key West race