He had a one-track mind.
Dick Cheung, 48, was warming up for the Great Eastern Run in October when he felt ailing and collapsed to the bottom.
He lay passed out for 20 seconds before being helped to his feet by fellow runners.
Despite feeling dazed and confused, Cheung ran the 13.1-mile race in a shocking 1 hour, 35 minutes, and 26 seconds.
Now, Cheung says he’s “lucky to be alive” — he had suffered a heart attack before the Oct. 15 event in Peterborough, England.
“If it wasn’t for the half marathon, I don’t think I’d be here today,” he told SWNS.
Soon after ending the race at a 7:16/mile pace, Cheung felt dizzy and went to the St John Ambulance tent for help.
Staff administered an electrocardiogram and located he had an abnormal heart rhythm.
He was urged to go to the nearby Peterborough City Hospital.
“I felt dizzy and unwell, and I remember them telling me it was serious,” Cheung recalled.
But he just desired to go home to Hellesdon, Norfolk. He ended up visiting the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital later that day.
“An invasive angiogram revealed I had blocked arteries and would should have a triple bypass — it was an entire shock,” Cheung lamented.
After three weeks within the hospital, Cheung was moved to the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire but was initially unable to have the surgery because he caught COVID-19.
On Nov. 22, he underwent successful heart surgery and was discharged on Dec. 1.
“The recovery has been slow as my chest bone has to heal, but every part’s gone rather well,” Cheung shared.
Monday was Cheung’s first day back at work as head chef for his family’s Chinese restaurant, Chung Hing.
“I’m looking forward to the long run, and me and Jack hope to run a marathon next yr — it’s given me a goal to recuperate,” Cheung said about his twin brother, Jack, who finished the Great Eastern Run in 1 hour, 35 minutes, and 4 seconds.
The Cheung brothers took up running to honor the memory of their older brother, Sze-Ming, a triathlete who died in 2018 after being hit by a truck while cycling. Sze-Ming, 44, had been training for an Ironman triathlon in Italy.
“We would like to proceed having fun with running in memory of Sze-Ming and look ahead to the long run with positivity,” the brothers said. “Keeping Sze-Ming’s flame alive with good health is all the time vital to us.”
Added Dick: “You never know what’s across the corner — life is precious and revel in it to the complete.”