INTERVIEW
When Rolf Zartner was given a slim chance of survival after four strokes, his determination not to be written off - coupled with his background in extreme fitness - saw him begin his punishing rehabilitation while still in his hospital bed. Here, Rolf shares his amazing story of survival, defying expectations and overcoming the biggest challenge of his life
Defying the odds When Rolf Zartner experienced three strokes in March last year, followed by a devastating fourth after lifesaving surgery, he was given - at best - a five per cent chance of survival. But Rolf, a managing director at Deutsche Bank in London and lover of extreme fitness challenges, would not be written off so easily. From the point of him waking from more than three weeks in a coma, he resolved this would not be the reality for him, and began to plan for a future as full as his life was until March 21, 2020. And on March 21 this year - a year to the day that stroke struck - he ran a half-marathon, having pursued a punishing neurorehabilitation and training regime which begun even while he was still in hospital. “I knew they expected me to die, so that made me become very, very determined. I got out of my hospital bed and began to walk around the aisles on the ward, and then over the days and weeks, I started to jog. “I saw the doctor who felt I may not recover. I got out of bed and walked over to him - ‘Don’t write me off, doctor’, I said to him. He was amazed.
NRTIMES
“And from when I got home, my training began again, gradually, but my determination since I woke from my coma has not decreased. “I know doctors say I’m a medical miracle, but for me, it was about setting targets and working towards them.” It was while training for an Iron Man extreme fitness challenge - only shortly after securing a promotion at work - that Rolf sustained the injury that would lead to his strokes. While completing his swimming training in Fuerteventura on March 7, unbeknown to him at that time, he sustained a double artery dissection in his neck. “I swam 4,000 metres and sprinted the last part when my neck made a weird twist,” recalls Rolf. “I was in quite a bit of pain afterwards, particularly in my jaw, but I didn’t pay too much attention to it. The pain became stronger in the two weeks afterwards, so I went to see my GP. “She didn’t recognise anything was seriously wrong, except a muscle spasm, and told me to take ibuprofen. But while I didn’t realise it, the clots had been building up, and that same night, 12 hours later, was when I had my strokes.”
60
