78-Year-Old Jogger Gives Grim Reaper a Run for His Money

March 9, 2007 — -- Eric Eaton is a 78-year-old in top physical shape. But on Monday, after going out for his daily three-mile jog, Eaton never returned home -- the former marathon runner was hit by a car.

By the time police arrived at the scene, eyewitnesses told them it was too late. They had already discovered that Eaton wasn't breathing.

"When I walked around the car, I saw an elderly male laying on the street with a blanket over him," said Tina Lacertosa, the deputy who showed up at the scene.

But when she took a second look, Lacertosa realized Eaton still had life left in him.

"I lifted up the blanket, and I thought I felt a slight pulse, so at that time I just began CPR. And within 15 to 30 seconds Mr. Eaton … began coughing," she said.

On "Good Morning America," Eaton, his wife, Joan, and Lacertosa talked about Eaton's near-death experience from his hospital bed in Hollywood, Fla.

Clutching his wife with one hand and Lacertosa with the other, Eaton said he barely recalled getting struck by the car.

"I didn't remember. I finished my jog and then … I was given CPR by Tina," he said. "I was in heaven. I just thought … 'Where am I? Where am ?'"

Joan Eaton realized something had happened to her husband when he didn't return home as expected and she saw police cars blocking his normal jogging route.

"He was about 20 minutes late from his normal jog, so I was getting worried," she said. "I got in my car and went around the block and I did see the police cars. … I ran to the front where the police car was, and Tina was there."

Lacertosa said that once she started administering CPR, Eaton began coughing and clutched her hand. She joked that since that moment he hadn't let go of her. Eaton's family calls her an angel for saving the soon-to-be 79-year-old husband and father.

Doctors have told Eaton that he will likely make a full recovery. When he leaves his hospital bed, he intends to hit the road.

Asked whether he'd jog again, Eaton said, "Oh, yes." His wife echoed: "We hope."