SANTA CRUZ — Lloyd Anderson considers the Fourth of July his second birthday.
Last year, at age 74, Anderson had a heart attack while running the Santa Cruz Sunrise Rotary Firecracker 10-kilometer race in Santa Cruz. Running with a crowd early in the race, Anderson stumbled, then fell, hitting a car on the roadside on his way down. Before he hit the ground, he was in the arms of Aptos-La Selva Beach firefighters who happened to be running right behind him.
The Firecracker race route gets tougher beyond the point where Anderson fell. In another mile, he would have been on a trail uphill, farther from the defibrillator, and the firefighters may have passed him.
"If it happened on the hill, I wouldn't be here right now," Anderson said, "I was fortunate the firemen were there where they were."
He plans to run again today, at age 75, with three stents that opened blocked arteries and a pacemaker, which was installed last October. He also plans to find the firefighters and thank them. He and his family already sent the department money to help with the purchase of a new defibrillator, but he hasn't had a chance to speak to the men who saved his life.
"I would like to see them, give them a hug or something. I certainly owe them," Anderson said.
Captain Jeremy Gilbert caught Anderson. Paramedic Mike Kretsch ran to the first-aid station to grab the defibrillator. Paramedic Ryan Peters performed chest compressions. Captain Mike Martin, paramedic Trevor Dirksen and firefighter Rick Molinar also assisted.
They were able to hear his heart pumping and get Anderson into an ambulance. By that afternoon, Anderson knew he was going to be OK.
| "I don't remember falling or anything," Anderson said. "I remember being in the ambulance, and I vaguely recall not being the most receptive guy. I didn't like being in the ambulance." |
"It was a crazy day," said Lynice. "I heard the sirens about a mile and a half into the race, but never made the connection."
Family members gathered at the race's end, waiting for Lloyd, congratulating Lynice. She remembers joking that he didn't like the pancake breakfast and trying to figure out why he hadn't come through at his usual time.
The firefighters got Anderson into the ambulance, and then finished the race, coming in together with a time of 1 hour, 15 minutes, 33 seconds.
After they came across, family members heard them talking and started to get concerned. It might have been an hour longer before they realized what had happened, then went to the beach house to tell Lloyd's wife, and then to the hospital where they received good news.
"There was a reason why those guys were there," Lynice said. "I think Lloyd's on about his ninth life, but he's going to run a lot more races."
"It's a miracle those guys were right there," Andre Anderson said. "Thank god for the Aptos Fire Department."
Retired after working 30 years for IBM as an engineer in San Jose, Lloyd figures he has picked up about 350 T-shirts at races. His wife has made quilts out of the shirts for their friends.
He started running about 20 years ago. He was falling asleep in an afternoon meeting and realized he needed to be more active. Soon enough, he was running as many as 40 races a year.
Since the heart attack, he says he has slowed down a little bit. He had to stay away from golf for a short time after the pacemaker was installed. He has run an 8-mile race in Hawaii and a 10k in Campbell since then. In Campbell, he slipped and fell on the gravel, and finished with a bloody leg, with a time of about one hour.
"I just do what I can do," said Anderson, who said he'll walk up the hill. "I'm looking at it like July Fourth is my birthday now. I have two birthdays to celebrate. I don't run much slower. I just take some breaks once in a while."
Contact Tom Moore at tmoore@santacruzsentinel.com
