a man collapsed at the gym today, about 15 feet from me.   i heard some yelling, and at first it seemed like someone urging someone on for more reps, or then a couple people maybe doing sets together talking about things.   the man was in a leg lift machine, and i quickly saw about 5 people all pulling at him and the machine.   i thought maybe he couldn’t hold the weight and was pinned, and by the time i thought to put my dumbells down the machine was crawling with people.   there was a lot of yelling, headphones, commotion, other people crowding around.   then people started lifting him out of the machine, and i helped lower him onto the ground.   He was maybe 50, big, heavy, and through all this i felt oddly calm and detached.   someone started giving him CPR, gym staff came over and assisted.   and about a dozen other people stood around not finding anything much useful to do other than get out of the way.   People on the far side of the floor kept on their treadmills, some didn’t even notice.   Paramedics showed up in probably less than 5 minutes, and unlocked the double-fire door next to the quad sled i had been using.   i asked a couple people to help me unrack it, and we quickly moved it out of the way, then asked each other if we should go on working out?   his wife wandered over, probably drawn by the noise, and realizing it was her husband on the ground, started losing it.   then the paramedics went to work and the staff asked everyone to clear the floor.   I picked up G from daycare as they were hitting him with an IV and looked like getting out the defibrulator. his wife was leaning out the double doors next to my car crying into a phone.

i feel pretty detached about this whole thing.   it wasn’t eery, or nightmarish, or stressful.   it just happened, i was there, and i pretty much did what i should.   and then left like i was asked.