Highlights
- Ajay Haridasse fell four times near finish before two runners stopped to help.
- Viral video of the rescue watched over one million times online.
- Both helpers still qualified for 2027 Boston Marathon despite slower times.
"After falling down the fourth time, I was getting ready to crawl," Haridasse told the Boston Herald.
Aaron Beggs, wearing a yellow North Down Athletic Club shirt, stopped running. He tried lifting Haridasse but the exhausted runner kept falling.
Then Robson De Oliveira, dressed in white, also stopped his race. Together they held Haridasse up and helped him run to the finish line.
Video goes viral
People watching the race filmed the whole thing from different angles. One video posted online got over one million views in just a few hours.
The footage shows many runners passing by Haridasse as he kept trying to stand up while crowds cheered him on.
Haridasse said without their help, he would not have qualified for next year's Boston Marathon. He wants to run it again.
The fourth-year Northeastern University student found their race numbers and Instagram accounts to say thank you.
De Oliveira's help came at a cost. His personal best times are on his Instagram bio. "If he didn't help me, that would have been his fastest race ever," Haridasse said. Both runners still qualified for the 2027 marathon though.
De Oliveira explained why he stopped on Instagram. "I was just a few meters away from my personal best, but I saw him collapsing," he wrote.
"I knew I couldn't help him alone. I thought, 'God, if someone stops, I'll stop too and help him.'"
De Oliveira went to the medical tent after the race with Haridasse. Haridasse had extreme dehydration but feels much better now.
Beggs wrote to De Oliveira: "Not many people realise you gave everything to help and ended up in a worse state than the guy we helped."
North Down Athletic Club in Northern Ireland called Beggs a "superstar" on social media. They said he "couldn't pass an athlete in distress."
Haridasse has recovered and plans to return. The Massachusetts native grew up watching the Boston Marathon and always wanted to run it. He called it "the greatest experience ever" when he spoke on the phone Tuesday after resting.
"Obviously the wheels kind of fell off at mile 26," he said.
Both De Oliveira and Haridasse will return in 2027. "I'll be back here in 2027, God willing," De Oliveira wrote. Haridasse agreed: "I'm running Boston again. I'm definitely running again."
