NEW YORK: American runner Rachel Apa, 24, died after collapsing in Central Park on Sunday, about two miles from the finish of her first New York City Marathon.
A spectator performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) before race medical staff used a defibrillator. Emergency workers took Apa to Mount Sinai Medical Centre, where doctors tried unsuccessfully to save her.
Her father, Steve Apa, told The New York Times that she died from rhabdomyolysis. The condition involves the breakdown of muscle tissue and can occur after intense physical exercise.
Apa, from Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, had previously played college field hockey. Her father described her as healthy and physically fit before the race.
“It’s unfathomable,” he said. Apa joined the Parkinson’s Champions team to honour her late grandfather, who had suffered from the disease.
Her mother, Michelle Apa, filmed her smiling at mile 14. During the race, Rachel sent her father messages expressing pain at miles 18 and 19.
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She collapsed in the closing stages of the marathon and died at 9:40 pm. Apa had recently started a Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme at Charleston Southern University.
New York Road Runners, which organises the marathon, expressed condolences to her family, friends and the running community. Organisers said the previous death of a race participant following a medical incident occurred in 2024.
(With input from The Guardian)
