Heart attack victim runs with doctor who saved his life

Mark McGirr is determined to cross the finish line in Sunday's Rock n' Roll half-marathon. A heart attack stopped him last time.

This race he's running with the doctor who saved his life when he collapsed the last time around. Their familieshave become friends.

"They're so modest but they are my heroes. They're my new best friends and we're family now," said McGirr, an avid runner.

"Every minute makes a difference"

Jack Jay, a doctor at Burnaby Hospital, was running just ahead of McGirr when the 62-year old collapsed, falling face-first onto the pavement. Jay and a nurse, who was running behind McGirr, stopped and performed CPR.

"He was unconscious, not breathing, no pulse," said Jay.

Amazingly, McGirr suffered no brain damage, even though his heart stopped for 25 minutes. That was when an ambulance arrived with a defibrillator.

Jay says it just goes to show how important it is for people to know how to perform CPR.

McGirr agrees.

"I was in disbelief because I'm not your prototypical heart attack victim. I had no prior warning. Nothing in my family history."

"Finish what I started"

McGirr, who lives in Oregon, is back in Vancouver to run the race he wasn't able to finish last year. And Jay will be running beside him. He says McGirr has done such a great job recovering, the heart-attack survivor may actually have a faster time than him.

"He's probably going to beat me in the marathon," said Jay.

The race will be a mental challenge for McGirr, who plans to visit the spot where he collapsed beforehand. But he still has no idea what he will feel when he runs past that spot on Sunday.

"Its really going to be unpredictable a little bit afraid for it. But more excited because it's like getting over the peak of the mountain I've been shooting for all year long," he said.

"It's so great to be back in British Columbia to finish what I started."

To listen to the full audio, clickDoctor and heart-attack survivor reunite for this year's Rock 'n Roll Marathon.