After near-fatal heart attack, Okanagan man wins medal at Salmon Arm 55+ BC Games

“People were applauding when I came to pick these things up,” said Christian Reinhard, looking at the two bronze medals he had just won at the 55+ BC Games in Salmon Arm.

“I didn't come for these things.”

Reinhard, 81, won the medals in table tennis, in the men's 81+ category, the other in the men's 75-79 category, in doubles, partnering Dennis Wiberg of Kelowna.

The applause and significance of Reinhard's victories were not lost on Wilf Pauls, who witnessed the Lake Country man essentially rise from the dead about two years ago.

Pauls, an author and former Salmon Arm teacher who now lives in Kelowna, and Caroline Bauer had started a game of table tennis with Reinhard, who was waiting for his partner to join them at the Rutland Seniors Centre. Pauls said he saw Reinhard’s body suddenly go stiff and his head go back. Pauls, Bauer and another man ran to catch Reinhard as he began to fall backward.

“We grabbed him and put him down,” Pauls said, still angry that he hadn't gotten his hand behind his friend's head. “His head dropped an inch and hit the ground and I felt so bad. I felt horrible. But I didn't realize that we had actually saved him from beating himself silly.”

Another table tennis player, Greg Metzger, jumped on top of Reinhard and began resuscitating him.

“He’s still not breathing. His heart has stopped beating,” Pauls said of his friend.

A short time later a defibrillator was used and the group managed to retrieve Reinhard.

“Christian came back to life before the emergency services got there, the firefighters got there and the emergency services got there right after,” Pauls said. “Scared, 12 minutes later they said take over, folks, just get out.”

Reinhard was scheduled to undergo triple bypass heart surgery. He has little memory of the experience, which saw him spend about two weeks in the hospital.

Pauls believes that Reinhard would have died without the nursing home's quick response.

“I've seen him completely pass out, not breathing, heart stopped, and now I see him playing table tennis. I have to keep playing hard to beat him, that's a miracle. Amazing,” Pauls said.

Reinhard took medication for high blood pressure, but did not know he had heart problems. He did his best to stay active and healthy.

“I was teaching martial arts and I owned the largest fitness center outside of Vancouver,” Reinhard said. “I was on high blood pressure pills, but I was fit, I was a competitive fighter on the martial arts circuit.”

Reinhard said his heart condition was the result of poor nutrition in his youth.

“It was wartime, my mother was a loving mother, lots of children, no money, the food was cheap and fatty and when I was 30 I started with nutrition and I was into fitness my whole life,” Reinhard said. “I've always had high blood pressure, but the damage was done during the war and the time after, when we had no food. So the lesson is that food, nutrition and fitness are the most important.”

After his operation, Reinhard felt like a new person and did everything he could to lose the weight he had gained and to start exercising again.

“I started working out later in life, and I play table tennis religiously, I go to the YMCA, and I try to walk,” said Reinhard, who is passionate about sharing his experiences with others and urging people 55 and older to stay fit and take care of themselves. “My message to older people is to get away from the TV and let them see that light. If you want it bad enough, you can stay healthy longer, you don't have to die at 50 or 60. That sounds horrible, but it's true. I live in a retirement community now and I see them pushing carts and they're 55-plus. If you do something with nutrition and fitness, I think you can experience a longer life.”

Reinhard said it was great to be a part of the 55+ BC Games and see so many people staying fit through different activities. During the games, he wore a shirt given to him by COACH (Central Okanagan Association for Cardiac Health) Kelowna, an organization that provides cardiac care programs. COACH is one of the many names Reinhard is grateful to for the care and support he has received.

Table tennis has also played a role in Reinhard's recovery. Although he still suffers from dizziness at times, he continues to work on his game.

“You need reflexes and you need to be very fast,” Reinhard said. “I'm not fast, that's why I'm not that good, but I'm working on it. So I've only been playing table tennis for the last four years, but I know how to train because I've trained in other sports before.”

Pauls, who also had heart surgery and sometimes experiences dizziness, says table tennis requires quick reflexes and quick thinking.

“When I play you, if I lose my focus, you will beat me,” Pauls told Reinhard. “I have to stay focused and I am inspired by the fact that you keep going, even when you are dizzy, even when I see you wobbly a little bit

“He says I'm dizzy today, which doesn't mean I should relax when I play him,” Pauls said of Reinhard. “He's going to play hard. We're both trying to kill each other, but we were friends.

“That's the fun part, you're fit, there's social stuff going on. That's why table tennis is called the best brain sport in the world. There's so much going on, every ball is a different decision, your neurons are firing all the time.”

“I love fighting him, but I always lose,” Reinhard laughed. “I strive to be better.”