One year after near-death, runner finishes Vienna Parkrun

A year after collapsing and nearly dying during a run, Claus Schlamadinger completed a 'Parkrun' in Vienna's Donaupark, celebrating his symbolic first birthday. The event on August 22 was highly emotional for Schlamadinger and the more than 300 participants, especially when race director Lukas Gärtner returned his favorite running shirt, which had been cut off him a year prior.

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I was touched and nervous – and didn't even try to hide it.

Schlamadinger, a 50-year-old football video journalist known locally as 'Schladi', doesn't remember the events of August 23, 2025. He awoke from a coma six days later, left the hospital weeks after that, and spent months in rehabilitation. The missing running shirt was only noticed in the spring when he began running again.

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CPR! Now!

On that fateful day last year, Schlamadinger collapsed face down in a pool of blood. Race director Gärtner immediately called for emergency services and used the mandatory defibrillator. A bystander identified himself as a doctor, and together with a second doctor who arrived shortly after, they began CPR. Schlamadinger had no pulse and had stopped breathing, his face turning ashen.

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Defi!

The doctors described the experience as functioning on instinct, emphasizing that anyone with basic first-aid training could perform CPR and use a defibrillator. They stressed that the critical action is to do something, as inaction leads to death. After nine minutes, paramedics arrived to take over. The doctors noted that real-life resuscitation is physically demanding and emotionally taxing, unlike the often-sanitized portrayals on television.

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I'm a doctor.