24-year-old runner Rachel Apa collapses, dies during NYC Marathon

runner who participated in this past weekend's TCS New York City Marathon so that's the young lady there and just in case you didn't hear about this story she was actually running participating in this weekend's event when she suddenly collapsed and as we are understanding passed away But it is the top story that we're following today on Newsroom Live. And one of the best is joining us now, Lisa Evers. Just, Lisa, good to see you. Bring us up to speed. She's 24? Antoine, this is really so, so sad. She's 24 years old. Her name is Rachel Appa. And this was her first marathon. But she's not new to sports or athletics or anything like that. In college at Bucknell University, she was a Division I field hockey player and has been a very healthy athletic person her entire life. So on Sunday, what happened is as she was nearing the end of the race with just a couple of miles to go, she collapsed, just suddenly collapsed. And then some people went over to try to help her, to resuscitate her. I interviewed, you're going to hear in just a moment, from a woman who actually went to help her. She's a licensed clinical social worker. She usually deals with children and teens in trauma. So she rushed over there. And then her fiancé called 911, and then they called for two, yelled for two doctors, doctors came, and there was this whole scene, they tried to respond, you know, they tried to resuscitate her, but she was unresponsive the whole time, and it was just, it's a horrible tragedy, because her father, who was in Pennsylvania, she's originally from Pennsylvania, her father was tracking her, you know, as you can track people by the mile, and then according to the New York Times article, At mile 18, she texted back her dad, ow. And then at mile 19, she texted back, ow, ow, like double ow. Miles 20, 21, and 22, she did not write back but kept running. Final stretch, the father, Mr. Steve, texted her at mile 23, not hearing back. And then at mile 24, this is when she collapsed. And the spectator, who you're going to hear from in a moment, Michaela Nicholas, who is a licensed clinical social worker. I mean, she deals with people in trauma all the time. She rushed over, rushed towards her. Her fiancé called police. She said there were police officers that were there. There were two people who said they were doctors who were giving. Life support and CPR to her. And then she was taken to the hospital. They worked on her for hours and hours and hours. And she just could not be revived. And it's a horrible thing. And then it turns out her father told the New York Times that she has rhabdomyolysis, which is a rare muscle condition. I'm reading this because it's very complicated. You're also educating us, Lisa. I've never heard of this. A rare muscle condition that can be brought on by exertion in which the muscles break down and can... So it's how horrible is that? I mean, look at this picture of her. You should see that the way you should see the way that she was, you know, in incredible shape, obviously extra shape for the marathon and for running and all of that. So very, you know, a tragedy. She was working as a manager for an electrical component company and also had just started her MBA study. She was going to get her her MBA. And so the. You know, so it was just very just a very tragic thing. She was running in honor of her grandfather who died of Parkinson's. He was very instrumental. So she was running with a group, you know, the group from Parkinson's. Right. And then her mother was following along to, you know, mother was in Queens and she saw her like live in Queens and had taken a little video of her and she was all energetic. But it's just something, it's one of these things that we hear about sometimes with people, you know, not this particular disease. But, you know, once in a while we'll have a story of somebody who's a standout athlete, healthy, young, 18 years old, 22 years old, very young. And then all of a sudden they find out that there's something. Yeah, they find out that they had a congenital heart condition that was not diagnosed or something very rare. And this is extremely, extremely rare. We reached out to the family. We didn't hear back from them, as you can imagine. We don't want to be, you know, adding to the grief at this particular time. But I did speak with Michaela, who was there. And, you know, she's still obviously, you'll see in just a moment, she's obviously very moved by what she went through because she's literally there holding Rachel's hand while this whole team of New Yorkers has come around her trying to save her. So let's take a listen. And so I just did what I knew I could in that moment, and that was to hold her hand and to comfort her and to tell her that she wasn't alone and that she was really loved. Thank And I noticed I braced it on her hand with a cross on it, and so I said a prayer for her, and I just rubbed the cross, hoping that she'd be okay. you very And, um... The doctors who were just in the crowd watching, I'm assuming their friends running, were incredible, much. and we worked as a team to do whatever we could to help Rachel. And then eventually the medics from the marathon got there, and they tried everything, and she was not responding. And so it's just, it's heartbreaking. So she said her main thing was, because she's not a doctor, but she is a social worker and she deals with people, you know, at end stages, especially kids and teens, which adds another layer of sadness to it. But she said she just wanted Rachel to know she wasn't alone in case she could hear her. And then when she took the crucifix, the cross, and rubbing it because she saw that she was wearing it, she said, oh, this must be something very special for her. Let me honor her faith. And let me do let me do this. And so so, Anton, we're going to have more of the interview with Michaela and her heroism. Like she literally just ran right over to her. And she said that it was an incredible scene because I said, what about the crowds? Because, you know, the crowds, especially, you know, especially towards the end of the marathon, it's very it's packed with people. Right. A lot. Yeah. She said everybody respected the space while the doctors were working and trying to give her CPR. They made way when the paramedics showed up. The police officers were there right away also. They were helping to keep everything organized so that it wasn't a chaotic thing. You know, people screaming and pushing and shoving. It sometimes happens, you know, when there's a sudden tragedy like this. But I'm working on the story even more. And for the 5 o'clock news, we hope to speak to a doctor about this disease. But, I mean, just the tragedy of it, you know, that it happened so, so suddenly. But clearly she was. In distress, but so determined with her last breath and Rachel, who I mean, Michaela, who we just heard from, she was probably one of the last people to actually have contact like that with Rachel. So was Michaela running it also? She just know she and her fiance were out there on the sideline by 85th Street to support other runners. They had a bunch of friends that were running as a group. So they were there to support the friends, cheering them on. And then Michaela said, you know, because Rachel had. You know, they have the number when you run the marathon, the number and then your first name in big letters so that the people, you know, the people can call out your name if you're close enough. And she said, go, you know, they were going, go, Rachel. And then just minutes later, not even minutes later, just a short time, very, very short time later, just yards away from her, she sees her just. Straight up drop. And I said, did she scream? Was there anything like that? She said, no, she just, you know, she was a distance away by that point, but she said she just dropped. And that's when she ran over there and her fiance started, you know, started yelling for doctors and calling 911. Lisa, before you go, what's that disease again? This disease, it's a rare muscle condition called Rhabdo, spelled R-H-A-B, RAB-DO, D-O, Myo, M-Y-O. Lysis, L-Y-S-I-S. So I'm sure each one of those syllables means something, but a rare muscle condition that can be brought on by exertion. So the exertion actually triggers it. And then the muscles break down and can poison the body. So normally when you're exercising heavily, you know, your body's producing various substances in excess. But usually the body can get rid of them. You know, you're flushing them out with water. Endorphins and things like that. And all sorts of things. And even waste products, like, you know, it's coming out faster. So usually your body can adjust, and especially for marathon runners. And I know with professional athletes, they have a lot of after. They have an after-game routine to cleanse their system, cleanse their body, and then to rebuild themselves and rebuild their energy. But it's just a tragedy. I mean, this woman, she's stunning. She was in incredible shape. And to have been an athlete at that level, I mean, field hockey is not one of those games you can kind of kick back and sit on the bench. You're out there in the middle. Yeah. So she was there. She was doing what she loved. She wanted to, you know, wanted to run the marathon. She did the marathon. She was really at a point in her life where things were coming together. You know, she got her degree, college degree. She was starting the MBA. She was working for a company, looking forward to a career in business. And it's just a tragedy, you know. And then we checked, you know, we checked also, too. There hasn't been a death connected with the New York City Marathon, for since about 2022. So that's about four years. And I was thinking about that, too, because, you know, we've been covering some pretty sad stories in the boroughs. And I'm like going, wow, this is you got over 60,000 runners on this 50th anniversary of the five borough marathon. You've also got you know, you have I think it's I think was like close to a million spectators to be hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people. And no incidents, you know, there were no crimes that we know of. There was, you know, there were no fatalities except except for this tragically, which had nothing to do with anybody doing anything bad. And here she is. And then I just think for those parents to be reliving that for her, you know, for your kid to go to just go out like you're not hearing back from her. And then you're going like, oh, she's in the zone. She's focused. You know, she's in the zone because Michaela, who we we talked to and you just heard from. She said, okay, you know, I said, did she wave back to you? Because sometimes you see the runners waving back. She goes, Lisa, remember, you're at the last two miles of this grueling marathon. So they are looking straight ahead to finish. You're like just trying to get through. You're in that grind zone, like let me just power through this. And She didn't say anything, and then this is what it is. So tough story there, Lisa. Yeah, very tough story. you so But we're really going to try to get a doctor that can explain this to us. And if there are any signs for people, much because a lot of people, you know, especially... They may not even be aware of it. They may not be aware of it. And you know now, too, being the workout guy for that you are, you know that the... having That a lot of the trends now with a lot of the sports and with a lot of even like the personal, our personal fitness routines are for heavier exertion. me. Yes. And so we need to really know about this and just really get to the bottom of it, which we will for five o'clock. Lisa Evers, thank you so much for bringing us up to speed on that. And yeah, that was a tough one there. Yeah, definitely. All right. Thank you.