By Scott Bernarde
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Copyright 2007 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ATLANTA, Ga. — Bill Headford says the Peachtree Road Race saved his life.
When the 65-year-old retired mechanical engineer from Carrollton suffered cardiac arrest during the race Wednesday morning, he was in the right place at the right time --- at the top of Cardiac Hill and in front of Piedmont Hospital. A paramedic unit on bicycles was across the street. And Headford probably will be released from the hospital today.
“I think someone was looking over me,” an exhausted Headford said from his Piedmont Hospital room Thursday evening. “I feel blessed.”
Headford was running with his daughters, Heather Headford and Tricia Barry, when his heart stopped and he collapsed about three miles into the 6.2-mile race. Using a defibrillator, paramedics from the Atlanta Fire Department revived his heartbeat within a minute, according to Dr. Harold Carlson, a cardiac-disease specialist at Piedmont. In less than an hour --- about the time an average runner can complete the Peachtree --- Headford’s clogged right coronary artery was open.
“It’s actually quite miraculous,” said Carlson, who inserted a stainless-steel stent into the artery. “If this had happened at home, he probably would’ve died.”
Headford, who was running his third Peachtree, said he started feeling bad about a mile earlier, but continued to press on. After he collapsed, one of daughters ran into the hospital for help, another sought the paramedics. By Thursday, Headford was up and moving well, according to Carlson.
Headford had planned for this to be his final Peachtree, but he has changed his mind.
“My wife [Judith] said ‘You’re not running next year, are you?’ And I said, ‘Yes I am,’ ” Headford said. “Then my doctor said, ‘I hope to see you.’
“I said, ‘I hope to run by you, Doctor.’”