Alpharetta swimmer returns to pool after surviving a near-fatal cardiac arrest
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Don Milich is back in the pool at the same place his story nearly ended during a swim practice. "It was on a Thursday morning we were halfway through practice," he said as he recounted what happened. The date was Jan. 19, 2023. "I just felt like I was literally swimming with a gorilla on my back," Milich said.
Milich, who is in his 60s, was at Lifetime Fitness in Alpharetta training with his swim team when something just felt off. He struggled to get enough air then his heart suddenly stopped. "I just laid my head down to rest for a second and that's the last memory I have," he said. His watch captured what happened. There were heartbeats, then there weren't.
Swim coach Boris Jerkovic and others pulled him out of the water. "I don't feel a pulse, I don't see him breathing and I realize I have to start CPR on him," Jerkovic said. Someone grabbed a defibrillator while Jerkovic got to work delivering life-saving CPR before Milich was rushed to the hospital.