Rachel Apa, a 24-year-old running her first marathon, passed on after collapsing about two miles from the finish line at Sunday’s New York City Marathon.
According to The New York Times, Apa was participating with the Parkinson’s Champions team in honour of her grandfather, who passed on from Parkinson’s disease in 2022.
A hospital social worker watching the race rushed to perform CPR after Apa collapsed, alongside her partner. Despite efforts to save her, she passed on. Apa, a former field hockey player at Bucknell University, had spent months preparing for the race. Her father, Steve Apa, described her as being in “perfect health, perfect shape”.
Steve had been following his daughter’s progress through the marathon’s tracking app. Her mother, Michelle, recorded a video of her at the 14-mile mark, where she appeared to be “beaming”, the newspaper reported. Apa later sent her father two text messages saying “Ow”, one at the 18-mile mark and another at the 19-mile mark.
When she reached the 23-mile mark, Steve sent her a message reading, “Final stretch.” He did not receive a response. A representative for the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office told TMZ that an autopsy was performed on Monday. The cause and manner of her demise remain pending further examination.