mumbai

Updated: Jan 22, 2018 00:27 IST

A Bangalore resident in his mid-thirties suffered a massive cardiac arrest after he finished running the 21km half marathon. Around 8:30 am, Promodsing Girase sat on the footpath near the finish line at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station and said he was “not feeling well”. He collapsed soon after, said Dilip Ghadge, a runner from Kalyan, who had been talking to him. The two met during the run.

Girase was taken to Bombay Hospital at Marine Lines, where he was given shock therapy with a defibrillator. However, he suffered more cardiac arrest episodes and had to be put on the ventilator. Doctors said his condition was ‘serious and critical’.

Since none of his immediate family or friends were around, Ghadge put up a public status update on Facebook to reach out to Girase’s family, who eventually responded to the post and reached Mumbai on Sunday afternoon.

A 44-year-old Dombivli resident suffered a stroke, which paralysed the left side of his body. “He is not fully conscious. Although his blood pressure and pulse are stable, recovery may take weeks to months,” said a doctor from Bombay Hospital.

Sukesh Kabra, who runs a family business, collapsed after vomiting, said Dr Shubha Patil, a runner, who was nearby. “He suddenly began slurring his speech and then collapsed,” she said.

Doctors at the marathon medical camp said 2,300 of the 44,407 participants this year required medical assistance. The marathon has not recorded any deaths in the past four years.

While 15 runners who suffered from dehydration were sent back after they being given intravenous fluid therapy, four were admitted to different hospitals in south Bombay and discharged that evening.

This year, there was a ‘marginal rise’ in the number of marathon runners who got dehydrated, compared to last year, said doctors at the marathon’s medical booth. “This year was warmer, which has led to a higher number of dehydration cases compared to last year,” said Dr Nilesh Gautam, intervtion cardiologist, Asian Heart Institute, Bandra Kurla complex.