Metro

Man brought back to life after heart attack during triathlon

A triathlete suffered a massive heart attack and had no pulse when he was pulled from the Hudson River during a race Sunday — but was miraculously revived by rescuers, authorities said.

Long Island resident Christopher Lapak, 52, jumped into the Hudson near 99th Street at around 8 a.m. for the first leg of the grueling race, a 1,500-meter swim, sources said. But he only made it a short distance before faltering.

Event organizers on jet skis and kayaks raced over and pulled Lapak out of the water.

Firefighters from the FDNY’s marine unit then arrived, and Lapak’s lifeless body was brought aboard the Marine One Bravo.

Firefighter Dean Tartaro began giving Lapak chest compressions before connecting him to a defibrillator, while FDNY Lt. Ted Carstensen used a bag valve mask to try to get him breathing again.

Suddenly, life began to return to the felled swimmer, and rescuers brought him to the 79th Boat Basin and put him in a waiting ambulance.

“We were able to get a heartbeat before we got to the dock,” Carstensen said. “We were still assisting him with breathing as we passed him off to EMS.

Lapak was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital in serious but stable condition.