Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 56, March 2014

Feature The Matterat Heart Nearin g the ﬁnish Spann at Dis y was -Chem feelin . g goo d at th at sta g e. Calm before the storm: Spanny (right) running the Dis-Chem with club mate Neels Vermeulen. BY LAUREN VAN DER VYVER U nsurprisingly, Spanny’s memory of the day is somewhat disjointed. “Having taken the race easy, I felt slightly nauseous at the ﬁnish when I crossed with my CoalDust club mate Neels Vermeulen and was waiting for my girlfriend Riekie to ﬁnish. I had no chest pains, just felt queasy, but I decided to go to the medical tent anyway, because it wasn’t something I usually encountered,” says Spanny. “They told me to sit down. A day later I woke up, confused, pulling cords out of me when I saw the bruising down my arm.” He had suffered a heart attack in the medical tent and the doctors stationed there had to deﬁbrillate him – in other words, arrest the heart muscle with electric shocks across the chest – before sending him to hospital, where doctors had to apply two stents to unblock a clogged artery. According to the doctors, it was a genetic disposition to store bad cholesterol that had built up over the years. “I woke up and wondered why and what I could have done to avoid it, but I couldn’t have. I was living at my healthiest. I guess I have a healthy heart, but not enough blood 12 ISSUE 56 MARCH 2014 / www.modernathlete.co.za in y cruis Spann ﬁnish. pumping towards it,” says Spanny. He describes the timing of the heart attack as a blessing in disguise. “It’s a relief it happened when it did, and not 300m before the ﬁnish, where I wouldn’t have had time. You never really think of medics at a race, but without them, maybe I wouldn’t be here today…” RUNNING PLANS Spanny’s running journey began in late 1999 and to date he has ﬁnished 13 Comrades Marathons and 12 Loskop ultras, having only missed 2010’s ‘Big C’ due to a football injury. In other words, he was the picture of health and ﬁtness! “I was running every day, cycling, kayaking, working out at the gym and maintaining my weight. I’m at every time trial at CoalDust in Witbank, also being the Club Treasurer, and I’m always prepared for a race. So everyone was surprised that it happened to me, because of my lifestyle. I thought I was bullet-proof, because I’ve always taken up any challenge.” He met Riekie three and a half years ago and also introduced her to running. They regularly attend time trials together, and she seconded him on the Comrades route, so she understands the frustration of a runner who can’t run, and is by his side on check-up days. Meanwhile, after years of only taking a multi-vitamin every morning, Spanny now has ﬁve different prescribed tablets, and he is slowly ﬁnding his feet again. “I started walking again two weeks after the incident, and I’m now doing 5km with my father and at time trials, but I lack energy and it’s frustrating, because I don’t wor

Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 56, March 2014 | Page 12