CNN’s John Berman said Monday he wasn’t sure it was “a given” that he’d survive after having a medical emergency while running the Boston Marathon last week.
On his return to anchor the “New Day” morning show, Berman recalled the circumstances — as far as he could remember them — that led to his hospitalization with rhabdomyolysis for three nights.
Berman remembered feeling fatigued around the 24-mile mark — and then waking up with a high body temperature in an emergency room feeling “incredibly disoriented and confused” and upset he couldn’t get in touch with his wife, who was waiting for him at the race’s finish line. He didn’t recall entering a medical tent, being put into an ambulance or driven to the hospital.
After an “ungodly” amount of rehydrating, Berman was released. He won’t experience long-term effects, he said.
Failure to finish his fifth marathon left him feeling “extremely unfulfilled,” admitted Berman. He had run to raise funds for “Team Beans,” the childhood cancer research organization set up by his CNN colleague Andrew Kaczynski following the death of his daughter from brain cancer.
“I’m not gonna lie, it kinda sucks,” Berman said of not completing the course. “What doesn’t suck is being alive, and there was a bit of time last Monday where I wasn’t sure that was a given.”