Bystanders Rally to Save Doctor Felled by Cardiac Arrest While Riding

Quick thinking by passerby saved 45-year-old Vikram Verma from a widowmaker. Here's how you can be a lifesaver in an emergency, too. [ view in [browser](. add bicycling@email.bicycling.com to your address book ] [Bicycling.com]( FOLLOW US [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [You Tube]( [Bystanders Rally to Save Doctor Felled by Cardiac Arrest While Riding]( "So when your heart stops beating you're supposed to die. Thankfully I had a guardian angel (and EMT) riding just behind me. Prompt CPR and medical attention saved me. I'm going to celebrate June 8th as my second birthday because this truly is a second lease on life…Now I just need to find my guardian angel and thank him personally...I owe him a beer and my life, not necessarily in that order." That was the Facebook post 45-year-old Vikram Verma made on June 14, six days after his heart did indeed stop beating and left him unresponsive on the pavement, with six broken ribs and a fractured clavicle, amid the sprawling farmland and housing developments in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania. Verma, a kidney specialist and internal medicine physician, had just done 20 miles "before the miles," clocking some saddle time on a Saturday morning before circling back to his house to refill his bottles and do a short spin to the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. He'd planned to meet his 15-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter at the velodrome to participate in a memorial ride for a young cyclist who had passed away from osteosarcoma earlier this year. Verma never made it. [READ ON]( [bicycling.com]( [Should You Ride Before or After Lifting Weights?]( Consider this before picking up that set of dumbbells. [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( [5 Reasons You Should Reach for Watermelon After Your Next Workout]( The health benefits of this sweet fruit keep us coming back for more. [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( [The Key to Max Human Endurance Might Actually Be in Your Gut]( But shoveling down more food for fuel is not the answer. [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( [Watch: Junior Cycling Team Goes Down in Flash Flood During Time Trial]( Unexpected rain at Spain’s Vuelta al Penedés flooded the course and caused three riders to crash. [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( [5 Leg Raise Variations Guaranteed to Light Up Your Core]( This circuit only takes 10 minutes—and you can do it right at home. [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( ©2019 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Email Privacy, 300 W 57th St., Fl. 19 (sta 1-1), New York, NY 10019 [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Notice](