Achi news desk-
Jean-Francois Alain was a healthy father who competed in triathlons for more than a decade.
He was about to turn 50 this year and his widow, Veronique Tremblay, says he set himself a goal of completing the Ironman Triathlon to mark the milestone.
The grueling event requires a lot of preparation, so along with his training at home in Montreal, he and a friend signed up for the Ironman Half in Galveston, Texas. on April 7, 2024.
Tremblay, who usually traveled with her husband and shared his love of running, remembers the last time they spoke. It was over FaceTime and Alan had just finished carb loading to get ready for the big day.
“He was excited,” she said. “I told him to stay safe.”
Jean-Francois Alain was a healthy father who competed in triathlons for more than a decade, his wife said. (sent)
She said he was in excellent health, and even went to the doctor a week before he left.
The next morning, during the first part of the triathlon – the swim – something went wrong. According to Tremblay, he raised his hand to signal for help. What happened in the minutes between that letter and his arrival at the hospital is now part of an investigation the family arranged through Houston attorney William Moy.
Tremblay says witness reports indicated a delay in getting help.
“It’s not like he was floating around and they didn’t notice,” she said. “He raised his hand for help. After that, several witnesses came and there is information that points to the fact that there were challenges.”
According to her, the loss of her husband of 29 years, the father of her two teenage sons, was devastating. “He was my best friend,” she said.
Event organizers did not respond to an interview request from CTV News. An autopsy has been completed but the results will not be available for several months.
Deaths during Iron Man events are rare, but they do happen. The vast majority of these deaths occur during the swim portion of the triathlon.
Duke University anesthesiologist Dr. Richard Gold has spent years studying the deaths that occur during triathlons.
He said while most assume these deaths are caused by heart attacks, the evidence shows there may be another cause.
“For example, if it’s a heart attack, you’d expect people to be exposed to the same stress in terms of exercise whether they’re running or cycling as they would be swimming. And yet there are very few deaths during exercise. Dry parts of a triathlon,” he said.
“So that, to me, suggested that there might be another explanation, which I would be interested in investigating, which is swimming-induced pulmonary edema (SIPE).”
The condition is when the lungs fill with fluid from within the body rather than water. He says some people are more susceptible to this condition, and the research is used to determine risk factors and prevent deaths.
Tremblay, meanwhile, is planning a celebration of her husband’s life.
“He was the engine of our family,” she said. “In the last moments I had with him before he died, I asked him to give me strength to continue on the path he is taking our family on.”
