Bob Harper of The Biggest Loser Meets the Man Who Saved his Life

In February 2017, Bob Harper of “The Biggest Loser” fame suffered a massive heart attack while at the gym. Miraculously he survived the episode and, as a result, has changed the way he approaches life.

“Everything about my life is just different now,” said Harper in an interview with Men’s Health. “I’m more relaxed. I’m a lot easier to be around, I hope. I’ve always been a very type A person – I’ve been very driven; I’ve been very focused and regimented with my workouts and diet – and now I’ve let loose the reins. I don’t feel like I need to be in control as much as I thought I needed to in the past.”

Interestingly, it wasn’t until early 2018 that Harper would meet the man responsible for keeping him alive – thanks to “The Doctor Oz Show.”

During his interview with Dr. Oz, Harper revealed that he knew of a doctor who was at the gym during his heart attack, in addition to his coach and friends. Yet, he had no idea who performed life-saving CPR on him.

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Explained Dr. Oz: “So you know we have a medical unit on the show and all these medical students, great students from great schools, were here when you got sick and came on the show. So when they went back to medical school they were all talking about you. One of them is the classmate of that young man.”

That young man’s name is Philip, and he was brought out on to the show to finally, formally meet Harper. After a hearty embrace, Philip admitted that Harper was the first human he’d ever performed CPR on. During his time in medical school, he practiced exclusively on dummies.

“This was my first time at the gym, and I just saw a bunch of people standing around someone who was lying on the ground,” recalled Philip. “So … I felt for your pulses, which were weak, and then they stopped. And then all of a sudden – do you want to hear it?”

“Yeah,” replied Harper.”

“All of a sudden you turned blue. Like actually blue,” added Philip. “So that’s when I started CPR.”

Needless to say, Harper was speechless about this heroic gesture.

You can watch Harper and Philip’s remarkable reunion in the video below.

-Adam Grant