Angel Barr started running as part of her exercise routine to help lose weight. She had never done a running event before, but eagerly registered for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in April.
On her Metro ride to the starting point, the 24-year-old was physically and mentally prepared. She remembers segments of the race, including listening to some of her favorite music. But a big portion of it, including what happened before she woke up in a hospital bed, is a blur.
First responders with D.C. Fire and EMS and U.S. Park Police filled in those blanks Tuesday afternoon at Hains Point. For the first time, Barr was reunited with the medics who helped save her life over a month ago, when she collapsed during the race.
“Do not take life for granted,” Barr said. “Keep working, striving to be the person that you are today and never stop growing. Life comes with a lot of challenges and obstacles, but those obstacles are meant to be overcome and not stop you up.”
For Barr, the obstacle on April 6 was cardiac arrest. She was running the race near Hains Point when she collapsed, according to Dr. David Vitberg, interim medical director with D.C. Fire and EMS.
Bystanders, including a physician and nurse from George Washington University Hospital, started CPR, Vitberg said. Several fire boats arrived, bringing an automatic external defibrillator. A “full cardiac arrest response package” arrived with the medical unit in a truck, navigating closed roads and runners to get closer.
Barr was defibrillated, and then a U.S. Park Police helicopter rushed her to GW Hospital, where she was kept for about a week. The help from bystanders and response that occurred over about four or five minutes before she was taken to the hospital had a major impact, Vitberg said.
“Last time I saw Angel, she was battling for her life and was lifeless,” Fire Sgt. John Wilkinson said. “Now to see her walking, talking, and no neurological deficits is phenomenal.”
Barr has been a nurse for three years, working in an addiction medicine unit, so she found it challenging to be a patient. When she woke up, she asked if she finished the race, and then followed up with questions about how many tubes they had used and why she was in the hospital.
“My biggest question was whether or not I finished the race, which I didn’t, but I was very fortunate to be where I was, which was alive,” Barr said.
This week is National EMS Week, and Vitberg said the agency collaboration is something that happens routinely. In Barr’s case, it may have helped save her life.
“The response that you saw is actually a fairly typical response for an event on park property,” Vitberg said.
Barr, meanwhile, is “very into fitness,” and is slowly returning to the gym. She’s planning to go back to work next week.
She was able to celebrate Mother’s Day and her mom’s birthday, which were on the same day. She attended her sister’s graduation, and is planning to attend her brother’s wedding soon.
“They saw me at a very, very low point, but everything that they’ve done, I’ll always cherish and remember, because I still have a lot left in me, a lot of things that I need to do and accomplish in life,” Barr said.
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