Speaking to the Boston Herald, external, Haridasse said: “After falling down the fourth time, I was getting ready to crawl.”
He praised his rescuers, acknowledging that De Oliveira in particular had sacrificed a probable personal best in order to help him.
“If he didn’t help me, that would have been his fastest race ever,” Haridasse said.
Writing on Instagram, De Oliveira said he saw Haridasse collapsing in the distance close to the end but he knew he did not have “the strength to help him on my own”.
“In that moment, I thought, ‘God, if someone stops, I’ll stop too and help him’.”
De Oliveira praised Beggs for stopping, saying: “I knew I could help, because two are stronger than one.”
Posting on Instagram, Beggs also acknowledged De Oliveira’s “selfless commitment to put others before yourself” and called him a “true star”.
