The Brief
- Rachel Apa, a 24-year-old Pennsylvania native, collapsed and died Sunday during the New York City Marathon.
- Apa was a former Division 1 athlete running her first marathon in honor of her grandfather.
- A spectator who rushed to her side described the tragic final moments as bystanders and first responders desperately attempted to save her.
NEW YORK – A 24-year-old Pennsylvania woman collapsed and died during her first New York City Marathon over the weekend, leaving loved ones and the bystanders who rushed to comfort her heartbroken.
Rachel Apa, a former Division 1 field hockey player at Bucknell University who was living in Pennsylvania, was nearing the final stretch of Sunday’s race when she collapsed suddenly on the course.
She was a standout athlete who maintained a very healthy lifestyle, working as a manager for an electrical component company while pursuing her MBA. She was running the marathon to honor her late grandfather, who passed away from Parkinson’s disease, and was tracking her progress with her father back home.
Pushing through the final miles
“Her father was tracking her… by the mile,” FOX 5 NY’s Lisa Evers reported Tuesday on Newsroom Live. “At mile 18, she texted back her dad, ‘Ow!’ And then at mile 19, she texted back, ‘Ow, ow!'”
Despite the pain, Apa kept running. She went silent for miles 20 through 22, and her father did not hear back when he texted her at mile 23. She collapsed shortly after at mile 24.…