'I don't like giving up': London Marathon runner finally gets medal after suffering cardiac arrest one mile from finish line

A London Marathon runner who suffered a cardiac arrest just a mile from the finish line has finally been presented with a medal nearly five months later — and says it was knowing he had “family to live for” that pulled him through the darkest moments of his recovery.

Gareth Hopkins, a 43-year-old paramedic, was just minutes from completing the iconic race in April when tragedy struck. His heart stopped for 16 minutes, and he went on to spend four months in hospital, learning how to walk, talk, eat and drink again while battling infections and kidney failure.

Now, speaking for the first time since leaving hospital, Gareth has revealed how his determination, stubbornness and the thought of getting home to his family helped him through the gruelling months of recovery.

“I always said to them [my family] that I’ll try my hardest to get back where I was,” he told The Standard’ s Luke Reevey .

“I think because I’m a stubborn and determined person, I was like ‘I just need to get better’, so anything they tell me to do, I’ll do.”

Gareth added: “I am so determined and stubborn. All those things got me through this.

“It got me in this, but it also got me out, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”

Gareth in hospital with his son Supplied There was an emotional send-off when Gareth was discharged from Northwick Park Hospital’s rehabilitation unit earlier this month.

Staff lined the corridors to applaud and cheer as he walked out, ready to continue the final stretch of his rehabilitation journey at home.

But, they had one more surprise up their sleeves. In a beautiful gesture, staff presented Gareth with a London Marathon medal of his own, gifted by an unknown donor.

The surprise brought a huge smile to his face, making it a fitting moment for a runner who had come so close to the finish line before his race took an unimaginable turn.

The father-of-four, who had raised just over £13,000 for Age UK in memory of his grandmother, was just one mile from the finish line when when tragedy struck on April 26.

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