Brought back to life — and back in the race

On June 3, 2006, Montana resident Michael Patterson died while running the Salt Lake City Marathon.

Now, he's ready to come back and complete the race he never got to finish.

Three years ago, Patterson was participating in his first marathon. He had just reached the 17-mile marker, near 5600 South and the Van Winkle Expressway, when his heart stopped.

Working at the nearby checkpoint station on that day was Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson.

"He fell on his face. Everyone was screaming. When I got to him, he had no pulse and wasn't breathing," Hutson said. "I made it clear on the (police) radio, 'This is a medical emergency.' "

Also close by that day was Kristen Keefe, a neuroscience teacher who also worked as a volunteer paramedic years ago in Maryland. Both she and Hutson used their first aid training — Keefe delivered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while Hutson did compressions on Patterson's chest — until paramedics could arrive and take him to the hospital.

When Patterson was loaded into the ambulance, he had regained a pulse.

Patterson survived his scary ordeal, and over the next three years he exchanged letters and cards with Hutson and Keefe.

Last week, Hutson received a package from Patterson. Inside was a DVD and a short note that simply said, "Thanks for saving my life and allowing me to enjoy life at age 57."

On the DVD, Patterson had compiled a slide show showing how he had come full circle. On Sept. 20, Patterson competed in his first marathon since his heart attack, and he finished the race in just under five hours with no health problems.

"It was probably one of the three or four greatest things in my life. It was really special to know I made it," Patterson told the Deseret News. "I thought about both the people who saved my life a lot during the race."

After Patterson was released from the hospital in Utah in 2006, he returned to Montana where he saw a cardiac specialist who told him, "You're lucky to be alive."

For the next six months, Patterson underwent a series of tests in an effort to determine what caused his heart to stop. Doctors couldn't come up with an answer.

Finally, with many experts and medical personnel standing by, they asked him to get on a treadmill and run until he dropped. "I ran until I collapsed," he said.

But his fall this time was from exhaustion and not a heart attack. Once again, doctors could not pinpoint what caused him to have trouble in Utah.

Patterson's doctor told him, "I can't recommend you ever run (marathons) again from a medical standpoint. Maybe if you stick to short races."