Durban - Musgrave runner, Junaid Bhayat, is on the road to recovery a month after he had to be resuscitated and placed into an ice bath after taking part in the Ultimate Human Race.
Bhayat, a chartered accountant, had to be held up by friends before a medical team took over, and he was transferred to the Netcare St Augustine's Hospital's ICU.
Sharing his story, Bhayat said it is an incredible feeling at the starting line.
"I met up with my friends, and we were feeling strong. The atmosphere was indescribable when they played Chariots of Fire, Shosholoza and our national anthem before the start of the race," he said.
"I walked up a few of the hills, it’s a long day, and you can’t run every bit of the race. At that stage, I was eating and drinking regularly and kept going knowing there were some down hills coming. I was slightly ahead of my planned schedule, and by Fields Hill, I was still comfortable," he added.
Bhayat said when he reached Westville, he saw his wife and children and had refreshments. He said he just wanted to get the race over and done with and did not eat or drink anymore after that.
"My heart rate was climbing higher and higher, and I was overheating, but I kept my mind on the finish line," he said.
In his determination to reach the end, Junaid’s body could not cope with the dehydration and the heat generated in the last section of the punishing 90km ultra marathon. Junaid’s running mates’ efforts to keep him going despite their own exhaustion caught the attention of the television cameras. Just 150m short of the finish line, he collapsed and 'blacked out'.
Emergency medicine specialist from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Nic Dufourq, said Bhayat was brought into the facility in a comatose condition by five or six burly schoolboys and placed in the care of a specialist in training from Wits University, Dr Deshin Reddy, who swiftly recognised that Mr Bhayat’s condition was critical.
He said Dr David Morris and Dr Duncan Havenga, emergency medicine specialists, and Dr Thembeka Shishane, a registrar of the UKZN emergency medicine programme, worked with Dr Reddy, paramedic Shaun Paul, Netcare 911’s regional operations manager for KwaZulu-Natal, and nurses from Netcare St Anne’s Hospital, to stabilise Junaid in the Netcare pre-hospital intensive care unit within the tent.
"Junaid’s core temperature was recorded at 42.2 degrees Celsius, confirming he had heatstroke. This is a medical emergency as the body can no longer self-regulate at such high temperatures and starts to shut down. The team swiftly placed Junaid in an inflatable ‘rubber duck’ raft filled with ice water. More ice was placed under his arms and over his body to help cool his core temperature, and cold intravenous fluids were administered," he said.
Intubated and ventilated, Junaid was soon stable enough for Netcare 911 to transfer him to hospital. Unbeknownst to Junaid, who remained in a coma for two days from the moment he appeared on TV, a fellow member of Team Impi cycling club, Dr Shabbir Dawood, a physician and nephrologist practising at Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital, had recognised him and his need for immediate hospitalisation.
"I have looked after patients who ran the Comrades previously, and I could recognise signs that made me realise he would need care in the ICU to recover. I phoned his wife immediately, and we started making the arrangements to book a bed and prepare for his admission to Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital," Dawood said.
Under Dr Dawood and the multidisciplinary medical team’s care, Junaid woke from his coma and was treated for a few days in ICU to recover from heatstroke and acute kidney damage.
"I received so many calls from people who were concerned for Mr Bhayat, and we are most pleased to report that he is recovering well and was discharged from hospital a few days later," he added.
Netcare’s general manager: emergency, trauma, transplant and corporate social investment, Mande Toubkin, said the teamwork behind the scenes for the Comrades Marathon was absolutely in the spirit of this celebrated South African event, with medical teams coming together from various organisations to provide emergency assistance to runners.
Bhayat thanked the Comrades Marathon Association for the medical support provided to him and other runners on the day.
"My family and I are very grateful, firstly to God for enabling me to survive, and for all the doctors, nurses, paramedics and others who helped me in my time of need and for the amazing support we’ve experienced, especially from Dr Dawood," he said.
"I would also like to express my thanks to my friends who tried to get me to the end of the race, even though they were so exhausted themselves, and to Dr Dawood and the other doctors and kind ICU nurses, who cared for me at Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital," he added.
He said he had always admired Comrades runners.
“I was doing shorter distance triathlons, as well as cycling with Team Impi cycling club, when the challenge of ‘the Ultimate Human Race’ inspired me to start serious training with a group of running friends in April this year,” Bhayat said.
2022 Comrades Marathon in numbers:
- 13 213 runners started the race and 11 709 completed
- 341 runners received medical treatment at the Finish Venue Medical Facility at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. Of these, 221 were attended to at the main Medical Facility while 120 runners received R&R, rubdowns, strapping, massage and mild treatment at the St. John’s Tent.
- 82 patients were treated in hospital; of those, 28 were referred from the Medical Facility at the Finish ,whilst the rest were taken directly from the route. 19 patients were admitted to hospital; 7 into ICU. By this afternoon, the few remaining in hospital were all fine and stable and are soon to be discharged.
IOL