From near death to the Senior Olympics

Dan Williams of Reston, 维吉尼亚州, was under a lot of stress when he felt a pounding sensation in his chest.

他认为这可能是肺炎，知道他应该去医院检查一下.

But it was also just one more thing to worry about, on top of a mounting pile of professional and financial woes. 威廉姆斯从事电信销售工作，经历了一段混乱的工作时期，因为他一直在努力达到保住工作所需的销售配额.

After losing everything in 2008 during the Great Recession, 他清楚地知道，再次失去生计会有多么艰难——他一直在想这件事. 为了应对工作带来的巨大压力，他忽视了自己的身心健康.

威廉姆斯当时63岁，他去了西弗吉尼亚州的一家退伍军人医院做检查.

当他到达那里时，医生给他做了检查，说:“嗯，你确实得了肺炎. But you also had a heart attack last night."

威廉姆斯立即被转移到华盛顿特区的一家退伍军人医院.C., 接受例行手术在冠状动脉内植入支架以改善心脏的血液流动.

It turned out to be far from routine. 这一过程引发了多次心脏病发作，需要进行开胸手术.

When Williams' family got to the hospital, 首席外科医生告诉他们，他不指望威廉姆斯能在手术中存活下来.

The surgery took nine hours. A major issue was internal bleeding; it was difficult to stop because of blood thinners Williams had been taking. Doctors later told Williams his heart stopped twice while on the table.

As he began to recover, Williams saw an X-ray of his lungs. 肺炎引起了如此严重的炎症，以至于x射线图像“看起来像伦敦的雾”,威廉姆斯说.

Williams thought about his four daughters and his partner, Karen Catone. He didn't want to put them through anything else.

“我知道我需要开始照顾好自己，对自己的健康负责，”他说. "I had to start walking or I was going to die."

So, he called for the nurse and said, "I'm ready to walk."

He shuffled out to the hospital hallway. 他看到走廊尽头有一棵人造圣诞树，就说:“这就是我的目标."

Over the next five weeks, 他一直在坚持, 一步一步来, eventually making it all the way to the tree and back. He left the hospital vowing to keep going.

只是，他没有. 他又陷入了不良的饮食习惯、高压力和久坐不动的生活方式.

A few years later, he was out to dinner with Catone. He'd struggled to move around that day and felt bloated at the table. He heard a voice say, "You're not going to get another second chance."

That proved to be the wake-up call he needed.

Williams started exercising, walking a few minutes at a time at first. Then he decided to try running again. He'd loved the sport earlier in his life. 他在高中时是一名越野跑运动员，20多岁时参加了几次马拉松比赛. 他表现出了潜力，但当他被科技行业快节奏的职业所吸引时，他的潜力就消失了.

他找到了一个当地的田径俱乐部，开始参加田径比赛，这样他就可以鞭策自己，找到一个社区.

“我喜欢和那些用跑步来充实幸福生活的人交流，”他说.

威廉姆斯很快参加了2016年马里兰州老年奥运会，并在100米短跑中获得铜牌. 他喜欢跑步，因为跑步需要他不断地表现出来，经历高潮和低谷，才能表现出色. He knows he doesn't want to walk away from the sport again.

"On the hard training days, I think about how much worse it was when I was in the hospital, 行走困难,他说.

他加入了一个团队，并聘请了一名教练来对自己负责，并有意识地进行训练, as he continues to compete in prestigious senior events. 他还创建了一个社区，致力于帮助其他人找到自己的健康和积极的生活之路.

"I was granted extra innings in life, and I don't want to squander them,威廉姆斯说。, 他现在74岁了. “我想帮助其他人看到，从濒临死亡到获得金牌是可能的."

他的奥运资深队友威利·斯普里尔(Willie Spruill)说，威廉姆斯很容易受到鼓舞.

"He trains and competes with an infectious determination," Spruill said. "He's moved a lot of people through his story."

Stories From the Heart 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.