19-year-old returns to IMG track less than 5 months after cardiac arrest during practice

BRADENTON, Fla. - IMG's Nick Migliarese looks out over the track with a new appreciation for life. That's because last November, he collapsed at track practice. 

"I was legally dead for three or four minutes," Nick told FOX 13.

Nick went into cardiac arrest. His heart just stopped.

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"I started screaming, like screaming into the phone. ‘What happened, what happened,’" said Jill Migliarese, Nick's mother. "They're just like ‘you have to get in your car, and you have to get here.’"

"It's a shock when it goes from you're thinking your kid just twisted his ankle or broke his arm to he's not responsive on the track, "said Mike Migliarese, Nick's father.

Trainers performed CPR and jump started his heart. Nick arrived at the hospital in a coma and spent nine days recovering.

"Without them reacting as quickly as they did, we might not be having this conversation right now," said Mike.

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Initially, the diagnosis was a genetic mutation, but now doctors aren't sure why his heart failed. Nick has no memory of the incident and has a defibrillator implanted in his chest to monitor it in case it stops again.

"Unfortunately, this is probably the worst thing that could happen," said Nick. "But I do know now if that's the worst thing, there's only going up."

Nick said he's not worried about it happening again, and less than five months after nearly losing his life, he's back at IMG's track – practicing and competing. 

He's no longer allowed to compete as a decathlete, but he's been cleared for all events except the pole vault and high jump.

"It really reassured me that I did make the right decision to come back," said Nick. "I didn't want to come back and regret it, but I really don't."

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His parents had to sign a waiver for him to return to track.

"I said to Nick, 'I really feel I'm signing your life away,'" said Jill. "But also, I have to let him live his life. So you know you have to make tough decisions as a parent. It takes a lot, but here we are, you know."

Nick is not giving up his dream to continue with track in college.