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Marathon runner sent one-word text shortly before she died

  • On Sunday, 24-year-old Rachel Apa died after a medical emergency near mile 24 of the New York City Marathon. Emergency responders transported the Charleston resident to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she passed away hours later.
  • A former Bucknell University field hockey player, Rachel was running her first marathon to support the Parkinson Foundation in honor of her grandfather, who died of the disease.
  • Throughout the race, father Steve Apa tracked his daughter via a mobile app, sending supportive messages at miles 20 through 23. Rachel texted him "Ugh" near mile 14, her final communication before her location stopped moving.
  • New York Road Runners reported that bystanders and medical staff performed CPR and used a defibrillator on Rachel. Doctors diagnosed her death as caused by rhabdomyolysis, a rare condition where muscles break down from overexertion.
  • Back home in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, Steve and wife Michelle are mourning their daughter. Steve described the loss as "unfathomable," while the family struggles to process the sudden tragedy.
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22 Articles

Center

24-year-old Rachel Apa sent a disturbing text message to her father during the New York City Marathon. Shortly after, she collapsed, just a few kilometers from the finish line, and later died in hospital. Rachel Apa is said to have suffered serious complications ...

Lean Right

The 24-year-old American runner Rachel Apa sent messages reporting pain to her father minutes before she passed out during the New York Marathon on Sunday (1). She was a former field hockey player at Bucknell University, participating in her first 42,195-kilometre test when she went through bad weather in Central Park, Manhattan. According to her father, Steve Apa, the young woman died as a result of rhabdomyolysis, a condition that causes the r…

·Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Center

24-year-old American runner Rachel Apa collapsed a few kilometers from the finish line during the New York Marathon. Now her father shares the last texts from his daughter

·Copenhagen, Denmark
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  • 37% of the sources lean Left, 36% of the sources are Center
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20 Minuten broke the news in Zürich, Switzerland on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
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