Post Falls man still alive and running

Eric Crosby wasn’t feeling all that great Tuesday.

But since he nearly died Saturday, that’s to be expected.

“A step over roadkill,” the Post Falls man said during a phone interview from his hospital room.

But to be breathing, after he wasn’t for more than 10 minutes, was pretty wonderful.

“I don't know if I should be alive,” Crosby said.

The 55-year-old survived a heart attack while competing in the annual YMCA Riverbank Run in Missoula, Mont. He had already completed a 10K in around 48 minutes and a 5K in about 25 minutes. He was preparing to run a mile, the final of the three-distance event. He recalls feeling off, like something wasn’t right. Still, it was the final race, he had worked hard and he was determined to finish.

“I told my wife, ‘It’s a mile. I can do it,'” Crosby said. “I’m a stubborn mule. That’s just who I am."

At the start, Crosby ran but soon slowed and walked. There was a bridge. And then, nothing.

“That’s the last I remember,” he said. “I'm thankful I don't remember what happened.”

Crosby woke up later that day at Providence St. Patrick Hospital.

“What is this?” he asked.

Doctors told him he had suffered a widowmaker, which is when the left anterior descending artery is nearly completely blocked.

According to WebMD, “They’re a major pipeline for blood. If blood gets 100% blocked at that critical location, it may be fatal without emergency care.”

According to the American American Heart Association, only 12% of people suffering from the widowmaker heart attack outside the hospital survive.

Eric Crosby is one of them.

“The people who worked on me and the bystanders were aces,” the Chicago native said.

Among those who performed CPR on Crosby before paramedics arrived was off-duty firefighter Taylor Blakely with Missoula Rural Fire District. 

"Initial CPR intervention by bystanders set the course for a potentially life-saving outcome," according to a press release from the Missoula Fire Department.

Crosby said he was shocked three times with an automated external defibrillator, but it didn’t bring him back. They turned him over, attached a second set of pads to his back and one to his chest, and shocked him again.

It worked. His heart began beating and he started breathing.

“The quick actions of individuals in our community who initiated CPR before the arrival of first responders significantly increased the odds of a positive outcome for the patient,” the release said.

All told, it took 12 minutes to resuscitate Crosby. 

“I'm happy to be alive, to be honest with you,” he said. “It’s a second chance, all right.”

Crosby has been running since his high school days in Chicago and has completed distances from the mile to half marathons and beyond, including the Boston Marathon. He runs about 25 miles a week and often races on weekends.

He and his wife, Jennifer, moved to North Idaho from Chicago in 2020.

He recently completed a goal of running a half marathon in every state, with the 50th in Lahaina, Hawaii. He is an assistant cross country coach at Lake City High School.

Running is like breathing for Crosby. He has to do it.

“It’s an addiction,” the LCHS English teacher said. “If I don’t do it, something’s not right.”

He once suffered a stress fracture of his pelvis, along with many other aches and pains that come with running, but he’s never had any heart-related issues.

He expects to be released from the hospital this week. He doesn't intend to stay home and rest for long.

“I'm hoping to be back in the classroom on Monday,” Crosby said. “My seniors have stuff they’ve got to do. I have to make sure my kids get through.”

While he doesn’t plan to give up running, Crosby said he'll adjust his lifestyle. He said he’ll forgo races, take his training down to a more casual pace and ride his mountain bike.

His wife said she's not surprised her husband won't stop.

“That’s his normal way of things, to keep going,” she said.

Jennifer Crosby sees it as a good thing that her husband wants to finish what he started.

“He’s as tough as nails,” she said.

Eric Crosby said that when he leaves the Missoula hospital, he won’t be giving up good health care.

His wife has three decades' experience as a nurse in cardiology and works at a Spokane hospital.

“She takes good care of me,” he said.

Crosby's brush with death didn’t cost him his sense of humor.

He said he’s been hearing stories about things he said when he was still unconscious, and described them "as quite funny and colorful.”

A few of his lines his caregivers recounted to him:

“I’ve got to finish the race, get off me.”

“My wife’s going to kill me."

“I can’t be DNR (did not finish).”

But on a serious side, Crosby said he has some unfinished business.

He intends to return to Riverbank Run 2025 and finish that mile that nearly killed him.

“I don’t have high hopes for my pace, but I'm going to run the mile next year,” he said. “I have to finish the race, one way or another.”