Marathon Runner Saved by Community Strangers Returns to Thank Rescuers
A Woodbury-area marathon runner who suffered sudden cardiac arrest during a June training run returned to the scene with fellow runners to thank the strangers who saved his life.
Scott Penticoff collapsed face-down on a sidewalk near Pioneer Road during what he planned as a 10-mile run on a Sunday morning. Three passersby immediately responded: a woman driving north on Pioneer Road who called 911, another runner who stopped to help, and Aaron, a Bayport first responder who performed chest compressions until paramedics arrived.
"I knew that it was a very critical situation and had to act quickly," Aaron said during the rescue. "In that situation he had minutes." Emergency responder Michael arrived shortly after and used a defibrillator to restore Penticoff's normal heart rhythm. "We had a good solid pulse so we could tell that we've brought Scott back to a normal heart rhythm," Michael said.
Penticoff, an ultra-marathon runner and former Ironman competitor, attributed the cardiac arrest to genetics rather than fitness level. "At the end of the day, the genetics weren't on my side," he said, noting both parents had high cholesterol and heart attacks. "I couldn't outrace those genetics."
Months later, Penticoff organized what he called a "redemption run" with about 18 members of his Hood to Coast team, Team Mojo. The group ran the same route and stopped at the collapse site, where Michael and Aaron joined them. "We just had a moment to take some pictures, but also just thank everybody publicly in that spot, in that place, which is a sacred place for me," Penticoff said.
Our proprietary artificial intelligence agent analyzed publicly available documents including meeting agendas, minutes, and transcripts to write this story to help inform local residents. Feedback helps us improve, so please consider rating how we did with the thumbs up or down below.
Go deeper on this topic
Research related meeting documents and build a brief — without rewriting the story.
Full analysis
- The 'Redemption Run': How community intervention saved a fit ultramarathoner from cardiac arrest.
- Genetic destiny vs. physical fitness: A look at hereditary heart disease in athletes.
- The 'Helper' phenomenon: Why random strangers and first responders at a specific location were perfectly positioned to save a life.
Keep doing that. Within about 1 second, we were at full charge. I told Aaron, Clear. I punched the shock button.
Don't just look for the helpers. You got to be the help, right?
Source document
[Music] I'm seeing other cars drive past, so I thought maybe nothing is wrong. But as I got closer, I Scott was laying on his stomach with his head towards the street. Huh? Did he trip? And you know, is he just taking a moment to collect himself before he gets up? And you know, all within a matter of sort of split seconds, you start to realize he's not getting up. And I could see in his eyes that he was not okay. Are you Renee Penop, the wife of Scott Penop? >> I knew that it was a very critical situation and had to act quickly. >> In that situation, he had minutes. >> He's agnel breathing. I'm starting compressions. Tell Medics to step it up. >> And it wasn't until she mentioned the war. She said, you know, please God, don't let this be this man's last day on earth. that I realized sort of that true severity. The healthiest person we all know had a heart attack. That doesn't that doesn't jive. That doesn't make sense. It was a Sunday. Um and it was actually a beautiful June day and I was going to go for a run. Um and actually I was going to go a little bit later in the morning than I would normally do. So across the street happened to be a gentleman that I just sort of took notice of. He you could tell that he was fit, that he certainly looked like a runner. I remember the gentleman had um bright shoes. >> I had a 10mi run plan that day. So, it was just like any other day. I woke up and uh put on my shoes and went out went out the door. It was nothing out of the ordinary. I just felt I felt decent, but not great. >> And I remembered that he stopped and I didn't think much of it, just that, oh, maybe he's crossing the street or he's changing directions. And uh I just decided at that point um that I'm going to stop at mile nine and call it a day. Just not my day. And I'm just gonna walk it in. >> And out of nowhere, my shoelace came undone. Gosh, that never happens. And so I stopped and I tied my shoe and um when I got up and I looked slightly, you know, diagonal for me but across the street, this gentleman was down, prone face on the sidewalk. And at the same time, another vehicle, which now that I know was driven by a woman, she was coming north on Pioneer, and she sort of noticed this gentleman was laying there. Um, and so she ran across the street, and as I seen her run across the street, I said, "Did you call 911?" So, we weren't both calling. >> Uh, then as we got closer, I saw there was a man down in the grass next to the sidewalk laying face down. So, you know, immediately I jerked the wheel over and slammed on the brakes and jumped out to see what I could do to help. As I'm on the call, she asked me, "Does someone know CPR?" And luckily, and again, sort of this grace of God, this other gentleman who happened to be a Bayport first responder showed up out of nowhere and said, "I've got it." I And so, he started chest compressions. >> And then as soon as I heard the breathing and couldn't get a good pulse, I knew that it was a very critical situation and had to act quickly. I was on Bailey Road already heading in that direction and hit my lights and sirens, checked the notes on my my computer that updates uh with information from dispatch. Within about 10 seconds, it was upgraded to a cardiac arrest. So that means someone on scene recognized that Scott wasn't breathing and that just increases the urgency of uh everything that's happening. So, uh, as I pulled up, I grabbed my monitor and jumped out and worked my way through the crowd and saw someone performing chest compressions on Scott. And I, at that moment, I thought, "These are some of the best chest compressions I've ever seen by a rescuer on scene." I said, "Three words." I said, "Keep doing that." So, within about 1 second, we were at full charge. I told Aaron, "Clear." I punched the shock button. We shocked Scott and I said, "Start compressions again." So, Aaron got right back on doing the chest compressions. I saw what looked like a normal heart rhythm, but the way to confirm that was checking a pulse. And sure enough, we had a good solid pulse. So, we could tell that we've brought Scott back to a normal heart rhythm. And at that point, a lot of other things happened in rapid sequence. We had police officers arrive and the ambulance was just a couple minutes behind that. >> Getting to know Scott and Renee, I've learned that he's an ultramarathon runner. He's he was an iron man competitor. >> You know, people have al always said like, "Hey, I can't believe you had a heart attack. You're the last person I think would have a heart attack." And at the end of the day, um, the genetics weren't on my side. So, my mother and father both had high cholesterol, had a heart attack, you know, all the things that happened. And so, I couldn't outrace those genetics. >> What I think has been really interesting about this story is that we all had these quirky things that put us where we were at the right time. >> It was really cool to see the community come together for a complete stranger. And these people aren't strangers anymore, right? They're friends. They're neighbors. They're helpers. Mr. Rogers had this quote and it was he was talking about his mom and his mom used to tell him when there's something scary happening, look for the helpers. And in that scary moment when I got home, I thought, gosh, there was so many helpers. And I was like, but don't just look for the helpers. You got to be the help, right? You have to put yourself in the situation and help because you just never know. >> Thank you. And my family thanks you. We coined it the redemption run. And so the guys that I run with on my Hood to Coast team, Team Mojo, a bunch of them were out of town. They flew into town and we had probably about 18 runners that did the route with me. And uh we did the route and we stopped at the spot where um I went down and Michael was there and Aaron was there and we just had a moment to uh take some pictures but also just thank everybody publicly in that spot in that place um which is a sacred place for me and uh just feel very grateful for that and um yeah just it's it's been All right.
Was this story helpful?
Other Topics from This Document
Cardiac arrest emergency response
Community involvement in life-saving efforts
Medical incident reporting and survival
Genetic predisposition to heart disease
Post-recovery community commemoration
Want to know when new stories arrive?
Enter your email to receive updates.
We will not use your email for any other purpose. You can unsubscribe at any time.