Advertisement
The 39-year-old Onalaska woman was one of 25 “global heroes” chosen by Medtronic, maker of medical devices, to be honored at the Twin Cities Marathon last weekend.
Medtronic honored people who benefit from medical technology and have a passion for running. Ten of the 25 honorees, including Happel, ran the marathon, while the others participated in the 10-mile run.
“A global hero? You just don’t think of yourself as that,” Happel said. “It was an awesome experience. I met amazing people who had so much more to overcome than me. It was very humbling.”
Among the 25 people from the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Finland and Denmark, three had pacemakers and others had life-saving devices.
Happel, a special education teacher and cross country coach at Logan Middle School, met Alberto Salazar, the world’s top-ranked marathoner in the early 1980s who won the Boston Marathon and three straight New York City marathons and was a member of the U.S. Olympic team.
Salazar, 50, who has an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, to treat arrhythmia, was honorary captain of the global heroes team. He talked at a luncheon honoring the global heroes.
“He talked about no matter what’s your problem, someone has it worse,” Happel said. “He had an interesting life story and focused on the positive.”
Happel said she never looked at herself as an inspiration to others, but she has learned a few things about life after a serious heart condition led to implanting a pacemaker.
“Life is a God-given gift, and take each day as a gift that it is,” she said. “I could have died at any moment. It freaks me out.”
Happel said her life-threatening condition should send a message to others to be an advocate for their own health care.
“When you know something is wrong, find someone who can help you,” she said. “Don’t give up. It’s too important.”
During the summer of 2007, Happel was driving her car on Hwy. 16 when she passed out. Her 9-year-old son, John, grabbed her cellphone and called his father.
“I woke up in the far right lane, and I don’t know how I got there,” Happel said. “The police just showed up.”
Happel, who had participated in a triathlon the day before, went by ambulance to the hospital. A series of tests showed nothing. She said she couldn’t convince physicians something was wrong with her.
But a Mayo Clinic physician finally decided to implant a loop recorder to record her heart rhythm. She had other episodes.
“I had one in the middle of the night where I lost motor function, and I thought I was dying. I was scared, I woke up not being able to breathe.”
She passed out at school while teaching.
“I continued to run,” she said. “You got to live. If it’s going to happen, it will happen.”
The recorder showed her heart rate dropped to a dangerously low level. She was diagnosed with an electrical disturbance in her heart. In March, doctors implanted a pacemaker to regulate her heart rate.
Happel said she hasn’t had trouble with her heart since, and she participated in her third Ironman contest — a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike race and a marathon — a month ago. The Twin Cities Marathon was her fifth marathon event, and she also has done triathlons.
“You have to be the advocate for your own health,” Happel said. “I’m back to running and doing fine now, but it could have been a lot different.”
Now when she runs, she said, she thinks about being in the moment and appreciating everything about life.
