Last year, Jim Sobel had a major heart attack at his home in Burlingame. His breathing stopped.
"At the time of the heart attack, I technically had died," Sobel says.
Sixteen months later, Sobel completed the grueling, 1.5-mile open water swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco. I spoke with him on Saturday after he completed the swim.
Tell me a little bit about your journey over the past year.
“About a year-and-a-half ago, I had a major heart attack in my house. At the time of the heart attack, I technically had died. And my younger daughter, she performed CPR and saved my life. As a result of that we got to the hospital. And then I had three additional heart attacks during the course of the evening -- all of which I ultimately survived. And that was a year-and-a-half ago. Now, I’m swimming Alcatraz and completing this goal that I set out for myself.”